CHARLESTON, S.C. (WTOC) - A federal grand jury has returned a 22-count indictment against Alex Murdaugh for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Murdaugh is currently serving two life sentences in a South Carolina prison after being found guilty in the deaths of his wife and son, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

“Trust in our legal system begins with trust in its lawyers,” said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs. “South Carolinians turn to lawyers when they are at their most vulnerable, and in our state, those who abuse the public’s trust and enrich themselves by fraud, theft, and self-dealing will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are grateful to the FBI for their tireless work on this case and to the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for their work to hold Alex Murdaugh, and those who enabled him, accountable in our state system. We remain committed to doing our part to further that effort in the federal system.”

Before being disbarred, Murdaugh was a personal injury attorney at a law firm in Hampton. According to the indictment, Murdaugh allegedly engaged in three different schemes to obtain money and property from his personal injury clients.

According to the indictment, Murdaugh allegedly devised a scheme to defraud and to obtain money by means of false pretenses from at least September 2005 until at least September 2021.

The indictment further alleges, as part of the scheme, Murdaugh routed and redirected clients’ settlement funds to personally enrich himself, including by:

• Drafting, or directing law firm employees to draft, disbursement sheets to send settlement funds to Murdaugh’s accounts without proper disclosure or client or law firm approval;
• Claiming funds held in the law firm’s trust account as attorney’s fees and directing the disbursement of those funds for his benefit;
• Claiming and collecting attorney’s fees on fake or nonexistent annuities;
• Creating fraudulent “expenses” that were never incurred on client matters and directing the disbursement of settlement funds to pay the cited costs, including claimed medical expenses, construction expenses, and airline expenses;
• Directing other attorneys with whom he was associated on client matters to disburse attorney’s fees directly to him, rather than appropriately routing the fees through the law firm; and
• Intercepting insurance proceeds intended for beneficiaries and depositing them directly into his personal account.

The indictment alleges in a second scheme, from in or around July 2011 until at least October 2021, Murdaugh conspired with his banker, Russell Laffitte, to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. It goes on to allege Murdaugh and his law firm asked Laffitte to serve as personal representative or conservator for multiple personal injury clients. It says Laffitte collected over $350,000 in fees as personal representative or conservator for Murdaugh’s personal injury clients.

The indictment says as part of the scheme, Murdaugh allegedly directed law firm employees to make settlement checks payable to “Palmetto State Bank.” Those checks were then delivered to Laffitte, whom Murdaugh directed to use the settlement funds for Murdaugh’s benefit. The indictment also says the funds were used to pay off Murdaugh’s personal loans and for personal expenses and cash withdrawals.

Laffitte was convicted on six federal charges in November 2022, including conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud for his role in this scheme. He is currently awaiting sentencing.

In a third scheme laid out in the indictment, in September 2015, Murdaugh allegedly created a bank account in the name of “Forge,” presenting as a legitimate corporation for structuring insurance settlements. Murdaugh was allegedly the owner of and the only authorized signer on this “fake Forge” account.

The indictment alleges that from in or around May 2017 through at least July 2021, Murdaugh funneled stolen personal injury settlements through the “fake Forge” account. Murdaugh is charged with 14 counts of money laundering for using the transactions in the “fake Forge” account to conceal the proceeds of his fraud.

The indictment also alleges from in or around February 2018 until at least October 2020, Murdaugh conspired with a personal injury attorney in Beaufort, Cory Fleming, to defraud the estate of Murdaugh’s former housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, and Murdaugh’s homeowner’s insurance carriers.

In February 2018, Murdaugh’s housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, passed away after a fall at Murdaugh’s home. Murdaugh allegedly recommended the housekeeper’s estate hire Beaufort attorney Cory Fleming to represent them and file a claim against Murdaugh to collect from his homeowner’s insurance policies.

Murdaugh’s insurance companies settled the estate’s claim for $505,000 and $3,800,000. The indictment further alleges Murdaugh and Fleming conspired to siphon settlement funds, disguised as “prosecution expenses,” for their own personal enrichment.

The indictment also alleges Murdaugh directed Fleming to draft checks totaling $3,483,431.95 made payable to “Forge.” Murdaugh then allegedly deposited the checks into his “Forge” account and used the funds for his own personal needs. The estate did not receive any of the settlement funds.

Murdaugh now faces new charges:

• One count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000;
• One count of bank fraud, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000;
• Two counts of wire fraud, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000;
• Three counts of wire fraud, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000;
• One count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000; and
• Fourteen counts of money laundering, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Limehouse, Kathleen Stoughton, and Winston Holliday are prosecuting the case.

You can read the full indictment below:

Murdaugh’s attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, released a statement on his behalf saying, “Alex has been cooperating with the United States Attorneys’ Office and federal agencies in their investigation of a broad range of activities. We anticipate that the charges brought today will be quickly resolved without a trial. "

Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter, attorneys for the family of Stephen Smith, released a statement on Wednesday saying, “Today has been a great day for justice in South Carolina related to the ongoing criminal investigations into Alex Murdaugh and Cory Fleming. A new federal grand jury indictment was unsealed today charging Alex Murdaugh with 22 new financial crimes, many of which stem from the theft of settlement funds from the Satterfield family and our other clients the Plyler sisters.

At the same time, it has been revealed that Cory Fleming was indicted for and has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, also flowing from his involvement in the theft of the Satterfield settlement funds. More importantly, Mr. Fleming has agreed to provide cooperation to the federal authorities, and Dick Harpootlian has indicated that Alex Murdaugh has been cooperating with the United States investigation for some time.

This cooperation and the fruit it yields will be interesting. The United States will likely be aided greatly in its prosecution of Alex Murdaugh by the recent filings that Murdaugh has entered in the United States District Court related to the Nautilus lawsuit in which Murdaugh admits that he deposited the Satterfield settlement funds into his fake Forge account at Bank of America. In the same federal filing, Murdaugh admits having confessed judgment to the Satterfield boys for $4,305,000.00, but neglects to advance the theory that the confession is somehow invalid because of his fraud, drugs, duress and/or other reasons that he advanced on a separate front through his State court Motion for Relief from Judgment filed just 15 days later.

While it is said that Lady Justice is blind, she is not a sucker. Bottom Line—Can’t run or hide from justice.”

Cory Fleming

Cory Fleming is scheduled to plead guilty to his charges in federal court on Thursday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Fleming will plead guilty to the information alleging he conspired with Murdaugh to defraud the estate of Gloria Satterfield, and to obtain money and property from the estate by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses.

Allegedly Fleming and Murdaugh conspired to siphon settlement funds, disguised as “prosecution expenses,” for their own personal enrichment. Fleming also allegedly directed the drafting of checks from the settlement funds held in his trust account to his personal bank account, fraudulently claiming that the funds were to pay for “expenses” related to the estate’s claim against Murdaugh.

Information alleges Fleming knew the funds belonged to Satterfield’s estate, and the payments were not for legitimate legal expenses.

Thursday’s hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center in Charleston, S.C. before Judge Richard M. Gergel.

Fleming faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Limehouse, Kathleen Stoughton, and Winston Holliday are prosecuting the case.

You can view Fleming’s plea agreement below:

You can view a timeline of the Murdaugh case below:

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