Todd and Julie Chrisley recently won a $1 million settlement from the state of Georgia, however, the federal government is now asking for it back.
According to court documents obtained byRadarOnline.com,the feds are demanding permission to seize the hefty payout in order to use the money to repay a portion of the $17 million the imprisoned reality stars owe in restitution to eight different banks.
The federal government claimed they only recently learned about the $1 million payment and believe the funds are being held by the Chrisleys' lawyer's firm— though Todd and Julie's attorney said the seven-figure payment has yet to hit their accounts.
"This money did not go directly to either Todd or Julie, however, and neither of them have received any funds from the settlement. But numerous debts they previously owed, including some reflected in the pre-sentencing financial disclosures, were paid in whole or in part. Given that these payments resolve some of their debt, and therefore change their 'economic circumstances' in 'material' ways, the Defendants believed it prudent to notify the Court and the United States Attorney in accordance with the Judgment," their attorney detailed, per RadarOnline.com.
A judge has yet to rule on the government's motion at this time.
Todd and Julie's settlement comes years after they first filed a federal lawsuit against the former Director of Special Investigations of the state’s Department of Revenue Joshua Waites, as OK! previously reported.
In the lawsuit, the fraudsters accused Waites of unfairly targeting them as part of a tax evasion case, as they claimed the former special investigator attempted to gather information bout the lovebirds by talking with Todd's daughter Lindsie.
"We have been saying for months that the criminal case against the Chrisleys was highly unusual and had real problems," Chrisley's family attorney, Alex Little of Burr & Forman LLP, previously declared.
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"This settlement is an encouraging sign," Little noted, as Todd and Chrisley are currently appealing their lengthy prison sentences. "It’s nearly unprecedented for one arm of the government to pay money to defendants when another arm is fighting to keep them in jail."
The initial October 2019 lawsuit was filed by the Chrisley Knows Best stars' former lawyer Michael J. Bowers and accused Waites' charges against Todd and Julie to be "a shocking example of how an out-of-control public servant can abuse his office and violate the rights of innocent citizens for reasons that have more to do with securing publicity and money for his office than with enforcing the law."
