Todd Chrisley's former employee described how she sabotaged his life at the direction of Mark Braddock, the colleague who turned the Chrisleys into the FBI

• A former employee of Todd Chrisley testified that she participated in the destruction of his family.
• Her boss, who turned Chrisley into the FBI, directed her to commit fraud in his name, she said.

A woman who worked at Todd Chrisley's asset management company testified that the former business partner who turned the reality TV family into the FBI directed her to commit financial fraud with him to sabotage Todd's life.

Donna Cash said that she sent fake financial documents to loan companies and lied about the health of the company at the direction of her boss, but eventually stopped when the Chrisleys' family home was on the brink of foreclosure.

"I did some bad things but that was one thing I wasn't going to do," Cash testified Tuesday through tears.

Cash added that when she realized that Todd Chrisley was going to bring his children home from vacation to a foreclosed home, with all their belongings in the street, she called him and told him he needed to come home immediately.

She then told Todd Chrisley that "both Mark and I were lying to him about everything that was going on," Cash testified.

Chrisley then launched an investigation, during which Cash remained an employee and would keep him in the loop to what Braddock was doing, she said.

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.

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

The Chrisleys have denied the charges and say that Braddock — a former business partner who was obsessed with Todd — ran his finances into the ground while pretending to be him.

Braddock admitted to committing bank and tax fraud, but testified that he did it at Todd Chrisley's direction and he complied because he had lingering feelings for him after their year-long affair.

He was given immunity from his crimes for testifying.

Destroying the Chrisley family

Cash told the jury that she was first hired in 2008 to be Todd Chrisley's assistant at Chrisley Asset Management, but after some time Braddock told her that Chrisley didn't want her anymore, that she "couldn't keep up," and was "useless" — which she later learned wasn't true.

Braddock then told her that she could work for him instead, and her desk was moved to outside his office, she said.

Braddock then started having her sign documents as Todd Chrisley and tell Chrisley that his 2009 taxes were being paid when they weren't, she said. She also testified that she witnessed Braddock send emails back and forth between his account and Todd Chrisley's, and delete any "crucial" emails related to the finances of the business.

He also had access to listen to voicemails left on Todd Chrisley's home and personal cell, and he'd delete any messages from banks, she said.

Cash told the jury that the first time she signed Todd Chrisley's name on a document at Braddock's direction, she believed it was normal business and not in the commission of fraud.

After some time, though, she "absolutely" knew what she was doing was wrong and without Chrisley's permission, but was afraid she'd lose her job if she didn't listen.

Cash said Braddock told her to "never, ever tell Todd what you're doing in this office," and if she did, she would be fired and go to jail.

Eventually, though, she knew "the right thing had to be done" and told Todd Chrisley. She had already lost 20 pounds from the stress of the job, she said.

"I was helping to destroy the Chrisley family," she said. "I did what I did and if I got punished, so be it."

Todd Chisley was angry with her, and told her to never sign his name again without his permission. She stayed on the job through an investigation and then came back years later when the company was put in receivership to help find missing documents, she said.

"It was the worst thing I've ever done in my life," Cash said of the fraud.

Braddock "hated the Chrisleys," she added. "Jealous. So jealous. He wanted his name on the door."

The fraud continued

Prosecutors pointed out on cross-examination that Cash continued to work for and be paid by the Chrisleys for years after they found out about the fraud. They also pointed to two fake invoices that were sent to the "Chrisley Knows Best" production company for reimbursement for broken furniture, sent years after Braddock and the Chrisleys were no longer in contact.

When asked about these invoices during the cross-examination, which came from Julie Chrisley's email, Cash said she created the invoices.

The furniture was really broken during the production of the show, and the price for reimbursement was legitimate, but she put the quotes on fake invoices without the consent of the stores, she admitted Tuesday.

The production company was about to close their books for the season and she needed to make sure the Chrisleys didn't lose money, she said.

"There was no financial gain," she said.

Prosecutors also played audio recordings of her previous interviews with investigators about her role in the fraud, which were inconsistent with her testimony Tuesday.