Todd Chrisley flew to LA twice a month to get his hair done but had no money to pay his bills, his former business partner testified

• Todd Chrisley traveled to LA twice a month to get his hair done, his former business partner said.
• Chrisley is accused of a bank and tax-fraud scheme by federal prosecutors in Atlanta.

Even as Todd Chrisley was drowning in debt, he traveled twice a month from Atlanta to Los Angeles to get his hair cut and colored, his former business partner testified Monday.

Federal prosecutors have accused Todd and his wife, Julie Chrisley, who star in the USA Network reality series "Chrisley Knows Best," of evading taxes and operating a conspiracy to defraud banks by making it appear that they were wealthier than they were to live an extravagant lifestyle they couldn't afford.

When the banks caught on to them, the Chrisleys filed for bankruptcy, walking away from $20 million in debt, and the couple went on to hide money from the IRS, prosecutors say.

Mark Braddock, who told the FBI that he committed bank fraud on behalf of Todd Chrisley, Julie Chrisley, and himself, testified about the couple's extravagant spending habits Monday in an Atlanta federal courtroom.

Assistant US attorney Thomas Krepp asked Braddock why the Chrisleys were so strapped financially.

When the recession hit in 2008, Chrisley's foreclosure-management business was doing better than ever, but the couple was "spending more than they were making," Braddock said.

They had three housekeepers working five days a week, were buying luxury cars, and had high American Express bills, he said.

Two jurors appeared shocked when Braddock described Chrisley's hair-care routine, in which he would travel to California and stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel for his twice-a-month appointments.

Braddock told the federal jury that he created fake documents that inflated how much money the Chrisleys had in the bank so they could continue to be approved for loans from community banks. The couple would use the new loans to pay off the old loans, until he was cut off, Braddock said. In all, they received at least $60 million in loans from banks, all of them by fraud, Braddock said.

"He needed $500,000 to $600,000 a month just to stay even," he said.

Eventually, though, the loan scheme started to fall apart when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation took control of many of the community banks that the Chrisleys were defrauding, and regulators saw inconsistencies in the applications, Braddock said.

From then on, he and Todd Chrisley began calling Julie Chrisley "ass is on fire," Braddock said, "because she was running around town like her ass is on fire trying to get bills paid."

The Chrisleys deny the charges and say that the "tax evasion" was the result of a sloppy accountant, who is also on trial in connection with the conspiracy.

They say the bank fraud was committed by Braddock, who was "obsessed" with Todd Chrisley and pretended to be him.

On Monday, Braddock denied that he was obsessed and said the only times he impersonated Todd on the phone or signed his signature was at his direction.

Braddock also said they were in a "personal, intimate relationship" that began in 2003.

Krepp showed the jury emails between Todd Chrisley and Braddock discussing how to best "create" personal financial statements that met the standards of lenders from whom Chrisley was seeking loans.

Braddock explained that he used "scrapbooking" to piece together records, using numbers and signatures from a variety of documents. Braddock also submitted claims that showed lost rental income on properties the Chrisleys and he owned in Florida, even though they didn't lose money.

In another case, Braddock made it look like Chrisley had $4 million in an account that had no money.

"You are a fucking genious [sic]," Chrisley said in email.

Todd and Julie Chrisley were aware and involved in the fraud, Braddock said.

The Chrisleys cut ties with Braddock in July 2012. Braddock testified that he came to work one day and Todd Chrisley told him he was going to have Braddock prosecuted for fraud.

The Chrisleys have publically accused Braddock of stealing money from them, which he denied on Monday.

Krepp asked Braddock why he regularly created the fake documents for the couple, even though he knew it was fraud.

"He needed money," Braddock said. "He asked me to do it, and I did it."