The home of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar was raided by officials from the Department of Homeland Security in what the department called part of an “ongoing federal criminal investigation,” confirming rumors that the family was facing a federal criminal inquiry.
Local news station KNWA confirmed that Homeland Security Investigations raided the 19 Kids and Counting family’s Arkansas home last week, though it did not give details regarding the nature of the investigation. As In Touch Weekly noted, the federal department has jurisdiction over a number of different cases that include cross-border criminal activity. That includes financial crimes like money laundering, bulk cash smuggling, and commercial fraud.
Josh Duggar was sued earlier this year for real estate fraud, KNWA noted, though it was not clear if the federal investigation had any connection to the allegations. He is set to go to a jury trial starting next April.
The Duggar family has not yet issued any kind of statement about the criminal investigation. Jedidiah, the youngest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, was approached for an interview but could not give any further details.
“I don’t live there and I am not aware of any investigation,” he said.
There had been rumors on social media that the Duggar family was under federal investigation, though these reports had initially identified son Josh Duggar as the target. After reports that Josh had his home and business raided, the FBI took the somewhat unusual step of denying that he was under investigation.
“We were not involved in any kind of law enforcement action,” an agent told Radar Online . “I can confirm we were not there.”
There had been some public drama leading up to the announcement of the investigation, with Derick Dillard — the husband of Jill Duggar — taking to Twitter to insinuate that Jim Bob had negotiated contracts with TLC on behalf of the family. Dillard later deleted those tweets, but they caused some controversy and allegations that he had improperly negotiated.
Dillard himself replied to a fan who questioned whether it was appropriate for Jim Bob to be negotiating on behalf of all the adults in the family by hinting that there was corruption involved.
“Yeah but all TLC is worried about is making that money, so if they can blame corruption on somebody else, but still get away with the benefits, then they’ll happily do so,” he wrote, via In Touch Weekly .
It was not clear if the unspecified “corruption” referenced by Dillard had any connection to the federal investigation.
