Alex Murdaugh slammed with 21 new charges, alleging computer crimes, money laundering

COLUMBIA - A state grand jury has handed down 21 new charges against disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh, accusing him of fleecing clients out of nearly $1.4 million through a scheme that steered piles of settlement money into a private bank account he set up for his own benefit.

The charges are contained in seven new indictments filled with charges of fraud, computer crimes, money laundering and forgery. S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson announced the charges Dec. 9, one day before Murdaugh was scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing related to other embezzlement charges.

They brought the total number of grand jury indictments against the jailed and suspended lawyer to an even dozen, containing some 48 separate charges. In all, Murdaugh, 53, is accused of defrauding victims, who range from clients to law partners, of more than $6 million in various alleged financial schemes.

Jim Griffin, a lawyer representing Murdaugh, declined to comment on the new indictments when reached by phone. Murdaugh's legal team has insisted he siphoned off money to support a decadeslong opioid habit, but some legal observers have grown skeptical as the amount of missing money has steadily grown.

Murdaugh has been slapped with an array of criminal charges and civil lawsuits alleging that over the past half-decade he used a fraudulent bank account to steal millions of dollars. The new indictments, which arose from alleged schemes across three counties, accuse Murdaugh of illegally:

Filling his bogus account with $152,866 by diverting the money from a wrongful death settlement due to an estate in November 2020. Murdaugh reportedly told a representative of the estate the case had settled for $30,000 - an amount so low he wouldn't take a fee. In reality, the settlement was for $180,000, and Murdaugh helped himself to the lion's share, the indictment stated. Steering $112,500 from a wrongful death settlement into his private bogus bank account in April 2019 after a representative of the estate came to him seeking help. Stealing $750,000 from another settlement in February 2020 by having a check cut from his law firm's client trust account and sent to his phony bank account. Fleecing a longtime family friend out of $65,000 in October 2018 by telling him that amount had to be withheld from a settlement in the case to satisfy an outstanding medical lien. The money instead went into Murdaugh's private account. Pocketing $95,000 due to his client from a June 2016 injury settlement after claiming the money was needed to pay for an accident reconstruction in the case. Draining $90,000 from a client's settlement compensation in August 2016 and steering it into Murdaugh's private account. Siphoning $9,569 from a client's settlement in November 2017 after falsely claiming he had spent the money on medical bills and private investigative services in the case.

According to a lawsuit filed by his former law firm, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, it began looking into Murdaugh's financial dealings after discovering a suspicious check on his desk in early September. The firm's review found "numerous checks" that sent settlement money from his cases to a bank account named "Forge."

Murdaugh had opened the account in 2015 and disguised it to look as if it belonged to Forge Consulting, an Atlanta-based financial firm that lawyers often hire to handle settlements for their clients. Murdaugh had even written checks from PMPED accounts to the fraudulent bank account, the firm found.

Murdaugh admitted to stealing firm and client money when his law partners confronted him about the checks on Sept. 3, the firm said. The firm notified law enforcement on Sept. 4 and contacted Disciplinary Counsel on Sept. 6. The state Supreme Court suspended Murdaugh's license two days later while Disciplinary Counsel investigates.

Murdaugh's life began spiraling out of control after his wife, Maggie, and son Paul were found shot to death outside the family's hunting lodge on June 7. No one has been arrested in the double homicide, though Murdaugh remains a "person of interest" in the state's ongoing investigation.

He was arrested in September on insurance fraud charges after confessing he enlisted a hitman to shoot him in the head so he could leave behind a $10 million life insurance payout for his remaining son, Buster. Murdaugh survived the incident and then checked himself into rehab after admitting to a 20-year opioid addiction.

A month later he was again arrested on charges he secretly stole $3.4 million from a pair of wrongful death settlements that were owed to the sons of Gloria Satterfield, the Murdaugh family's longtime housekeeper and nanny who died after falling at their estate.

In November, state prosecutors slapped the beleaguered attorney with 27 charges, after new evidence pointed to various financial crimes across five counties.

Murdaugh was set to appear in court at 9 a.m. Dec. 10 for another shot at bail after spending the past eight weeks in a Richland County jail. The hearing was going to be handled by a new judge, Alison Lee of Columbia.

It was postponed, however, in light of the new charges against Murdaugh, confirmed Robert Kittle, a spokesman for Wilson's office. A new date was not immediately scheduled.

A fellow circuit judge, Clifton Newman of Kingstree, denied Murdaugh bail twice since his second arrest in mid-October. Newman said he considers Murdaugh a danger to himself and the public, given the suspended lawyer's admitted opioid addiction and previous assisted suicide attempt.