Palmetto State Bank reaches settlement in alleged Alex Murdaugh embezzlement scheme

HAMPTON - Palmetto State Bank has reached a settlement with the family of Alex Murdaugh's deceased housekeeper in connection with an alleged scheme the disgraced attorney ran to pocket millions from a wrongful-death claim stemming from her 2018 passing.

The Hampton-based bank and the law firm representing the family of the late Gloria Satterfield released a joint statement Nov. 11 indicating that a settlement had been reached in the case, ending a pending legal claim against the bank. Palmetto Bank admitted no wrongdoing, describing the resolution as a business decision. Terms of the settlement were not released.

"Although Palmetto State Bank never handled the settlement funds nor was it responsible for the alleged actions of Alex Murdaugh, Palmetto State Bank and its board of directors made the business decision to prioritize ending this matter for the mutual benefit of Ms. Satterfield's sons, its customers and shareholders, and the Hampton community at large," read the statement, released by the bank and Satterfield attorneys Eric Bland and Ronnie Richter.

The statement went on to say that the Satterfields agree that the bank has acted responsibly and remains "a good corporate citizen."

With the bank released from the lawsuit, Murdaugh is now the sole defendant in the case moving forward. Corey Fleming, a longtime friend who represented the Satterfields in the wrongful death proceeding, was dropped from the family's suit last month after also reaching a settlement with the family.

In an Oct. 15 legal filing, Palmetto State Bank had argued that it had nothing to do with the 2018 wrongful death claim brought by Satterfield's sons, even though one of the bank's vice presidents served as the personal representative of the Satterfield estate in that case.

The bank said at the time that Chad Westendorf represented the Satterfield's estate only in a personal capacity, not as part of his official duties. The bank insisted no money from the $4.3 million Satterfield settlement was ever deposited in any of its accounts. It said it knew nothing of a conspiracy to hijack money that was owed to Satterfield's family and misdirect it instead to Murdaugh.

Bland and Richter said Murdaugh had encouraged the sons to sue him - and hire Fleming to do it - after their 57-year-old mother died following a February 2018 trip and fall accident at a Murdaugh property.

Bland and Richter said Fleming encouraged the Satterfield's to appoint Westendorf to represent and manage her estate.

After that, the Satterfield sons were never told of the settlement negotiated on their behalf, the attorneys alleged. State prosecutors say Murdaugh pocketed $3.4 million of that money after directing Fleming to send settlement proceeds to a fraudulent bank account.

In his settlement with the family, Fleming agreed to pay the Satterfields all the legal fees he was awarded from the case. He admitted making mistakes in the case and said he was misled by Murdaugh, his friend and former law school classmate, to believe the money was going to the Satterfields.

Murdaugh remains in the Richland County jail, where he is being held without bail on charges related to the Satterfield theft and allegations that he tried to stage his own murder in a botched insurance fraud scheme over Labor Day weekend. His attorneys have blamed his actions on a 20-year opioid addiction that grew worse after the unsolved killing of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at the family's hunting lodge in June.

A judge has frozen Murdaugh's assets amid concerns he or his remaining son Buster might try to hide millions of dollars that could be recovered in civil suits against him.