SC lawyer Murdaugh indicted on 27 counts of new financial crimes: $4.8 million stolen [The State (Columbia, S.C.)]

State (Columbia, SC)

Nov. 19—COLUMBIA, S.C. — A state grand jury has indicted suspended lawyer Alex Murdaugh on 27 counts of new financial crimes, accounting for $4.8 million across five counties.

The new indictments date back to 2015. They allege that Murdaugh stole money from clients and stole that was to have gone to his Hampton law firm PMPED, then deposited the money into a phony bank account he had created labeled "Forge," according to a S.C. Attorney General's office press release and the indictments.

Murdaugh used the Forge account "to convert the money to personal use, including withdrawing cash, making online transfers, and writing checks to family and associates," one indictment said.

The new indictments said Murdaugh faces:

— Four counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent

— Seven counts of obtaining signature or property by false pretenses

— Seven counts of money laundering

— Eight counts of computer crimes

— One count of forgery

The indictments arise from alleged schemes to defraud victims and launder money in five S.C. counties: $3,483,431.95 in Beaufort County, $792,000 in Bamberg County, $383,056.14 in Allendale County, $125,000 in Orangeburg County, and $70,000 in Colleton County.

The nine counts out of Beaufort County for $3.4 million appear to be related to the alleged scheme against the estate of the Murdaugh's deceased housekeeper.

"This doesn't appear to add anything new to the case other than additional charges," said Jim Griffin, one of Murdaugh's lawyers, along with Dick Harpootlian. At the time Griffin spoke to a reporter, he had not yet seen the details of the new indictments.

The indictments are the latest in a series of stunning events involving Murdaugh since early June, when his wife, Maggie, and son Paul were found shot to death on the grounds of their rural estate in Colleton County.

At that time, Murdaugh, 53, was a respected lawyer, a fourth-generation member of a Lowcountry legal dynasty and a member of a prominent law firm.

Since then, Murdaugh has been indicted on unrelated charges involving insurance fraud and embezzlement. The S.C. Supreme Court suspended his law license. He has been pushed out and sued by the law firm his great-grandfather founded in the early 1900s. He's currently in Richland County jail on criminal charges, and a S.C. Judge in a civil case appointed receivers to take control of all his finances.

Several of the new indictments are related to an existing criminal case against Murdaugh that involves the $3-plus million estate of his deceased housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, but the rest of the charges are new matters, one source said.

Satterfield, a longtime Murdaugh housekeeper and nanny for his two sons, died of fatal injuries after a 2018 fall at Murdaugh's homestead, according to warrants and legal documents in the case.

Murdaugh then developed an elaborate scheme to siphon more than $3 million from Satterfield's estate for his own use, according to charges in that case and a civil lawsuit filed against Murdaugh by Satterfield's heirs.

The alleged scheme involved Murdaugh orchestrating a death settlement for Satterfield's sons from insurance and having a lawyer friend represent them. The friend, Cory Fleming, would later write checks from the millions in settlement money to a sham Bank of America account Murdaugh controlled. The sons did not receive any money nor know about any settlement reached, their lawyer has said.

Federal authorities are also investigating the Satterfield financial allegations against Murdaugh.

Murdaugh is currently in the Richland County jail being held without bond after state Judge Clifton Newman ruled he posed a danger to the community.

This story will be updated.

This story was originally published November 19, 2021 9:41 AM.

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