A federal grand jury indicted Russell Lafitte, the former Palmetto State Bank CEO, for allegedly conspiring with Murdaugh to steal $8.5 million from his client's settlements. Besides Buster, the parties include his uncle John Marvin Murdaugh, court appointed co-receivers overseeing Alex Murdaugh's assets and Connor Cook, a survivor of the boat crash. A three-part documentary series airing on Netflix February 22 will delve into scandals and murders that plagued the Murdaugh family, including the death of Mallory Beach, 19, and Paul and Maggie's . The suspect or suspects are not clear; neither is the motive, authorities said, though they said there is no danger to the public, according to FITSNews. They were friendly enough that Murdaugh once invited Laffitte to a poker night he was thinking about hosting, but not so close that they appear to have followed through. Murdaugh assured her the money was sitting in Wilsons trust account, and for a few weeks, Seckinger tried unsuccessfully to get confirmation. from 1999 to present. And in 2011, he was presented with an investment opportunity of sorts when Murdaugh came to him asking for a loan not from the bank, but from Hannah Plyler's account. Without consulting the banks lawyers or its board, Laffitte prepared a cashiers check for $680,000 and carried it over to the PMPED office at the end of October. Further details in the "Indictments" section below. As the current president of UPT Strategies, a Republican political consulting firm based in Charleston, Mule agreed to speak with Fox News Digital more broadly about the political influence Murdaugh had in the states Lowcountry region. alex murdaugh political party by 26/07/2021, 11:37 am SHARES Stone has not recused office from murder investigation. All rights reserved. Murdaugh, whose full name is R. Alexander Murdaugh Sr., discovered Paul, 22, and Maggie Murdaugh, 52, shot to death at the familys hunting lodge Moselle on June 7, 2021. Russell Lafitte, the former Palmetto State Bank CEO, is charged with bank fraud, wire fraud and misapplication of bank funds for allegedly helping Murdaugh steal money from his client's settlements, July 21, 2022: Palmetto State Bank CEO is charged with bank fraud for 'helping Murdaugh steal money from his clients'. The 53-year-old arrived at the hospital with his head bleeding and wrapped in gauze. According to WSAV-TV, depositions in that case alleged that Paul Murdaugh was drunk and belligerent, even acting like he was on drugs, and he refused peoples attempts to get him to stop driving the boat. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. He had loans for real estate ventures, a mortgage on his house, and credit cards and credit lines that covered his day-to-day spending and his recurring overdrafts. The payment prompted an internal investigation at the bank, and within weeks Russell Laffitte was fired as CEO. Fox News Digital verified those claims through the Federal Election Commission, as well as the South Carolina State Ethics Commissions public disclosure websites. PMPED was growing concerned because Murdaugh had let slip that he might try to hide his income from the attorneys in a looming civil case. Murdaugh, whose full name is R. Alexander. Once, Laffitte emailed Murdaugh that he was shuffling money to cover his loans: Just need to get them caught up before examiners come in, he wrote. Overdrafts are red flags to financial regulators, who view them as risky, unexpected loans. Rumors and speculation have surrounded his death on July 8, 2015, when the 19-year-olds body was found on Sandy Run Road in Hampton County with deep gashes to the head. The bank had its own reasons to get Murdaughs negative balances off its books. Alex Murdaugh. He works at the familys law firm, according to his Facebook page. A member of the legal community in South Carolina named Alex Murdaugh gave $2800 to Bidens political campaign in April 2020 and has demonstrated his involvement in both the Republican and Democratic parties. Based on that document, which Laffitte says he signed without reading, PMPED wrote a check to the bank, relegating Thomas name to the memo line on the bottom-left corner. That day, Laffitte transferred $90,000 from Plyler's conservatorship, the first of 14 loans Murdaugh would ultimately take from her account, according to investigators. In 2019, his teenage son Paul had allegedly crashed the familys boat into a bridge near Parris Island, sending several of his friends into the water. The housekeeper, Satterfield, had been the employed by the Murdaughs for about 25 years when she died of a stroke and heart attack, three months after a mystery 'trip and fall' inside the family home in 2018. Though the clock was extended, Murdaughs finances were no less shaky. Dad,Coach,Teacher and best friend. Murdaugh been mired in multiple legal cases over the past several years, and prosecutors have suggested those legal problems may have been the motive behind the killings. Authorities have not released many details. If Laffitte was offering that much money unprompted, he said, I knew there had to be more to it.. December 9, 2022 9:34pm. On Friday, he was pushed out of the firm and reported to authorities. He is also charged with financial crimes, including stealing more than $8 million from clients and committing fraud. However, Alex Murdaugh is a central focus of the probe, the site reported. Now, Smith - who is facing charges for the incident - is claiming he had no role in the suicide scam and was trying to stop Alex from killing himself when the gun went off. TNS. Russell Laffitte insisted the timing was a coincidence. FITSNews has done some of the best local reporting on the mysterious murder case. Murdaugh, the disgraced legal icon of an historic South Carolina family that dominated low county politics for decades, was a prolific donor to candidates on both sides of the political aisle. Klicken Sie auf Einstellungen verwalten um weitere Informationen zu erhalten und Ihre Einstellungen zu verwalten. Edward Smith, an accused hitman, is claiming he had no role in Murdaugh's suicide scam and was trying to stop him from killing himself when the gun went off, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh (left) were found shot dead at the family's home in June. Especially in the Lowcountry, that hometown feel. The family gave her family $500,000 in a wrongful death settlement but it's unclear why her death was ruled to be their fault. It did the same with some of Pinckneys money. Laffitte and Murdaugh lived across the street from each other as boys; Murdaughs dad was Laffittes godfather, and vice versa. When he arrived at the hospital, doctors confirmed he was high onbarbiturates -a group of drugs in the class of drugs known as sedative-hypnotics - and opioids. Contributing to Murdaughs financial instability, each loan from Plyler started a countdown clock because Laffitte would have to give up control of her money when she turned 18. He was already out on bond after state agents said he tried to arrange his own shooting death on a roadside so that his surviving son, Buster, could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. Once, the money was gone after just two days, records show. Alex Murdaugh is a South Carolina lawyer who discovered the bodies of his murdered wife and son at the family's hunting lodge. By then, the firm had come across even more of the mysterious checks to Palmetto State Bank in Thomas and Pinckneys files. Murdaugh left the law firm over claims he misused funds, The New York Times reported, adding that Murdaugh and the law firm agreed he should resign, and police were notified. , Post and Courier, an Evening Post Publishing Newspaper Group. Eddie Smith continues to be a victim of Alex Murdaugh and his deeds, she said. Curiously, Murdaughs firms cut $792,000 hadnt shown up. In a hearing in Colleton County on Friday, prosecutors and defense attorneys debated the relevance of those years of alleged financial misdeeds that lined Murdaugh . tmoore@postandcourier.com September 6, 2021: Alex resigns from law firm, In a statement he says: 'I'm resigning from my law firm and entering rehab after a long battle that has been exacerbated these murders. This story is based on information unveiled at the federal trial of former Palmetto State Bank chief executive Russell Laffitte, at which 24 witnesses testified and more than 200 exhibits were admitted over three weeks. (AP Photo/Mic Smith). The two spoke on a Monday morning in August, and Malinowski pulled up Murdaughs account and saw something astonishing: He had an overdraft of more than $367,000. That illegal activity included a 'distribution network' for the painkiller oxycodone, according to prosecutors. He had a fractured skull from 'two superficial appearing bullet wounds to the posterior scalp' but the bullets did not penetrate his brain. It's just the tip of the tragedy in the Murdaugh family. Murdaugh also donated to former Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham's congressional camapign. No arrests have been made int he case. R. Alexander Murdaugh, or Alex Murdaugh, is a lawyer with the Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick Law Firm. Murdaughs defense attorney Dick Harpootlian declined to answer questions for this article. Murdaugh has sinceadmitted he stole millions from the housekeeper's sons and his law firm, blaming a decades-long opioid addiction for his 'stupid, illegal' behavior. He was inclined to greet everyone he saw at a restaurant or the bank gregarious and loud, disarmingly scattered and frenetic. In Laffittes telling, she blessed the idea. In a conversation with the 911 dispatcher, he begged first responders to hurry. Mule, who recently worked as a public affairs specialist at the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of South Carolina, said he could not comment on whether any case has been opened by federal prosecutors related to Alex Murdaugh or his family members. jgrzeszczak@postandcourier.com, By Thad Moore and Jocelyn Grzeszczak February 23, 2019: Mallory Beach dies being thrown from boat driven by Paul Murdaugh. Four days after the wire transfer, Wilson sent confirmation he was holding the money in trust. On June 7, 2021, his wife Margaret Maggie, just 52, and their youngest kid Paul, 22, were discovered dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Legal Statement. tmoore@postandcourier.com Prosecutor says charges against Alex Murdaugh are 'tip of Alex Murdaugh is jailed AGAIN on $4m fraud charges over Medical records confirm Alex Murdaugh WAS shot in the head Alex Murdaugh DID steal $3M from dead housekeeper's sons and Royal Family will find it 'impossible' to compromise with Sussexes, Man knocked out by a pool cue in violent pub brawl, Russian pro-war fanatic warns Britain could be 'wiped off the map', BBC Breakfast celebrates forty years of hilarious bloopers, Ken Bruce will be joining the Greatest Hits Radio family in April, As it happened: UK Government blocks Scotland's new gender law, Bungling helicopter pilot blows over stadium roof injuring eight, Kamala opts out of kneeling with Biden for Warriors photo op. Then he went back to the beach and ran into another one of Murdaughs cousins, who also said he wasnt working. For nearly 90 years and three generations, the post of chief prosecutor for five counties around Hampton was held by a Murdaugh, resulting in the five-county district being called 'Murdaugh Country'. Murdaugh's father was a prominent attorney in the area. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Im resigning from my law firm and entering rehab after a long battle that has been exacerbated these murders. As conservator, he set his own interest rate. He wrote on Facebook after the murders, My account has been hacked. Paul Murdaughs case was pending at the time of his death and hadnt changed since his bond was modified to allow him to travel in July 2019, The Island Packet reported. She didnt know that Murdaugh had amassed many times that amount in debt, or that his bank account constantly had a negative balance. Palmetto State Bank kept processing them, letting him rack up debt. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. The court documents in the cases say they fear Murdaugh is trying to hide millions of dollars. Due to the current case, the mystery surrounding the previous murder has been solved. Still, Smith does not have a clean record. According to The State, the Triton boat owned by Alex Murdaugh rammed into a bridge, ejecting six passengers ages 19 and 20. The family of Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina attorney accused of defrauding legal clients and carrying out a failed suicidal fraud scheme, has been told he could soon be indicted on . In July 2022, the Colleton County Grand Jury issued an indictment charging Alex Murdaugh with two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the deaths of his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul. Smith, 62, is accused of drug trafficking and running a longtime money laundering scheme that involved some $2.4 million in money allegedly stolen by Murdaugh from his family's law firm and from . | Terms of Use| Privacy Policy. This story has been shared 118,071 times. The bank, satisfied that hed keep finding a way to make good, kept processing his checks all the same. Meanwhile, the Murdaugh family reportedly never paid for the funeral of Gloria Satterfield, a 57-year-old housekeeper and nanny who had worked in their home for two decades. Spatter has, however, found blood on Murdaughs dress. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. She died several weeks later on February 26, 2018. 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They won his family millions. Alex Murdaugh walks into a bond hearing last month in Varnville, S.C. Mic Smith/AP COLUMBIA, S.C. A prominent South Carolina lawyer has been charged with stealing insurance settlements meant. Murdaugh's attorney Dick Harpootlan blamed the drug addiction for Murdaugh's actions. This time, Laffitte agreed to lend Plyler's money to her former lawyer. We've received your submission. Reach Thad Moore at 843-937-5703. She couldnt see where the money went from there. He died, apparently of natural causes, just days after Maggie and Paul were found dead. While the couples six children would receive annuity payments from the lawsuit, the checks wouldnt arrive until they were adults. @Live5News pic.twitter.com/njcH3ECPrX, Michal Higdon (@MichalHigdon) June 8, 2021. The medical records confirm Alex was shot twice and that he had to go to the hospital. "I was so happy. Henry McMaster. He didn't tell Plyler about the loan. 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