Global Courant 2023-06-01 03:38:49
CHARLESTON, SC — Alex Murdaugh was indicted on federal money laundering and bank fraud charges on Wednesday over allegations that he stole money from his clients, and while he pleaded not guilty for now, his attorney said that could soon change.
Murdaugh is already serving a life sentence at a South Carolina state prison for the murder of his wife and son, and the details of the 22 financial charges are not new. Prosecutors have charged Murdaugh on similar charges, saying he diverted money intended for clients and a wrongful death settlement for his family’s longtime housekeeper who fell at Murdaugh’s home into his own bank accounts.
Murdaugh’s lawyers said in a statement last week that the former attorney has been cooperating with federal investigators and they expected the latest charges would be “solved quickly without trial.”
A federal guilty plea to the charges that could mean decades in prison would guarantee a long time behind bars for Murdaugh, even if his pending appeal against his double murder conviction was successful.
Murdaugh took the stand at his murder trial earlier this year for repeatedly denying that he shot his 22-year-old son, Paul, and 52-year-old wife, Maggie, at their home. Prosecutors said he decided to kill them because his multimillion-dollar theft was about to be discovered, and he hoped their deaths would give him sympathy and time to come up with a cover.
Murdaugh, who turned 55 on Saturday in a state prison cell in protective custody, also faces about 100 other state charges, including theft from clients and his family’s law firm, insurance fraud and tax evasion.
Prosecutors, Murdaugh’s attorneys and state judge Clifton Newman, who presided over the murder trial, are trying to find time in court to hear at least some of those charges before Newman is forced to retire at the end of 2023 due to his age.
In federal court, Murdaugh faces 14 counts of money laundering, five counts of bank fraud, one count of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
His longtime friend Cory Fleming — an old college roommate and godfather to one of his sons — pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his part in helping Murdaugh steal more than $4 million in plea bargains. wrongful death with insurers meant for the family of his longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield.
The other allegations described by prosecutors in Murdaugh’s federal indictment have already been revealed in state legal documents.
It said Murdaugh and a banker friend, Russell Laffitte, worked together to take the settlement money from the client’s accounts, prosecutors said. Laffitte was convicted of six counts of bank fraud in November.
Other federal indictments detailed allegations about how Murdaugh created a bank account that had a similar name to a legitimate company that handled settlements to steal money from clients.
