Murdaugh was charged with four counts of obtaining signature or property by false pretense worth $10,000 or more; two counts of money laundering with a value of $20,000 – $100,000; one count of money laundering with a value of $100,000 or more; and two counts of computer crime with a value of more than $10,000, according to a Friday news release from South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.
CNN has reached out to Murdaugh’s attorney, Richard Harpootlian, for comment. A Harpootlian press representative told CNN in an email, “No comment at this time.”
The latest indictments allege Murdaugh stole from his former law firm and brother.
According to an indictment, it was common practice for certain partners in the PMPED law firm (Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick) to loan the firm money at the beginning of each year to cover certain expenses until the firm had generated revenue sufficient and could be paid back with interest, but Murdaugh did not usually make such loans.
The company’s accounting office “mistakenly wrote a loan repayment check to Murdaugh for $121,358.63” that should have gone to Murdaugh’s brother, who had made a loan, according to the indictment. But Murdaugh went to the accounting office and “although the misrepresentations caused the office to cut another check for the same amount . . . (and) he then deposited this replacement loan repayment check in the his account and converted the funds to his personal use.”
Murdaugh conducted financial transactions “with property he knew to be the proceeds of an illegal activity or to be derived directly or indirectly from the proceeds of an illegal activity,” another charge says.
Another indictment alleges that Murdaugh created a bank account “for the purpose of misappropriating funds belonging to others under the illusion that the money was being paid to (a) legitimate settlement planning company “.
He then arranged for a check for $91,867.50, representing legal fees for the law firm in one case, to be deposited from the client’s trust account into the bank account he had set up and controlled, according to the indictment . He then used that money “for his personal use, for expenses including, but not limited to, credit card payments, transfers to family members, overdraft charges and checks written to associates,” he alleged accusation
A total of 90 charges for schemes to defraud
Murdaugh resigned from the law firm in September 2021 following “PMPED’s discovery that Alex misappropriated funds in violation of PMPED standards and policies,” the firm said in a statement. That same month, the state Supreme Court issued an order suspending his license to practice law in South Carolina. In October, the law firm sued Murdaugh to recover funds it alleged he stole from clients for his own personal use, saying Murdaugh “developed a systematic scheme in which he diverted funds owed the firm and clients to a fictitious entity” for many years. .Murdaugh was already facing a number of other charges for alleged financial crimes.
“In total, through 18 indictments containing 90 counts against Murdaugh, the State Grand Jury has charged Murdaugh with schemes to defraud victims of $8,789,447.77,” the state attorney general said .
Murdaugh was also charged in July with two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in connection with the murders of his wife and son.
Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and her son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found shot to death on the family’s property in Islandton, about an hour north of Hilton Head Island, on June 7, 2021 . Alex Murdaugh made the 911 call. , saying he had just returned home and discovered their bodies.
He pleaded not guilty and his lawyers said he wanted “everyone to know that he had nothing to do with the murders of Maggie and Paul.”
Murdaugh wants the trial to begin quickly, his attorney previously said, because he believes “the killer or killers of his wife and son are still at large.”
[ad_2]
Source link
