Murdaugh could testify in trial of former Palmetto State Bank CEO

The federal trial for former Hampton banker Russell Lucius Laffitte, an alleged accomplice of Richard "Alex" Murdaugh, is set to begin Tuesday, and Murdaugh might be called upon to testify.

Laffitte, former CEO of Palmetto State Bank, was indicted July 20 and Aug. 17 by a federal grand jury on charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud and misapplication of bank funds in connection with Murdaugh's alleged schemes to steal settlement funds from legal clients and other attorneys.

After a pretrial conference on Nov. 7 at the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center in Charleston before Judge Richard Gergel, jury selection was set for Nov. 8.

The trial was expected to begin immediately after jury selection and last through Nov. 18.

According to a court filing by Laffitte's attorneys, the defendant intends to call Murdaugh to testify as a witness despite the fact that Murdaugh is likely to invoke Fifth Amendment rights to not incriminate himself.

Of course, Murdaugh, the disbarred attorney, is accused of killing his wife and son, and he's also accused of scores of financial crimes. His trial on murder charges is to begin in January.

For Lafitte's case, Laffitte's attorneys have also filed documents that indicate they intend to present as evidence in their client's defense audio tapes of executive session meetings of the Palmetto State Bank board of directors and their legal counsel from Nov. 3, 2021; Dec. 16, 2021; Jan. 4, 2022; and Jan. 7, 2022.

Federal prosecutors have filed documents that indicate they intend to call as an expert witness Deputy Regional Director Timothy Rich of the Atlanta Regional Office of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to testify as an expert on "Safe and Sound Banking Practices."

Laffitte is also facing similar charges from South Carolina State Grand Jury indictments from May 4. Robert Kittle, a spokesperson for the state Attorney General, said that no state-court trial dates have been set for Laffitte's state charges.

Laffitte has been indicted by both the state and federal grand juries on allegations that he aided Murdaugh in stealing from multiple personal injury clients in an alleged decade-long, multi-county crime spree by acting as Murdaugh's hand-picked conservator for several of those clients, then aiding him in stealing the funds or making improper, low-interest loans from the funds.

Laffitte was fired as CEO of Palmetto State Bank in Hampton in January 2022. His family founded the bank more than 100 years ago, and it now has several branches in the Lowcountry.

Murdaugh remains jailed in Richland County on a $7 million bond. Trial dates have not been set for his alleged financial crimes.