Alex Murdaugh is hit with 22-count federal fraud indictment

Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has been charged in a sweeping federal indictment alleging that he siphoned $3.4 million from his dead housekeeper's insurance settlement and defrauded his partners and other clients for 16 years.

The 22-count indictment unsealed on Wednesday outlines three separate schemes the disgraced South Carolina attorney allegedly used to steal money and property from his personal injury clients.

If convicted on all 22 counts in the new indictment, which includes charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy, Murdaugh would face a total of up to 480 years in prison and fines of up to nearly $13 million. 

Murdaugh's attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin said in a statement that their client is cooperating with federal prosecutors in the case, and indicated that the charges would be resolved quickly, without a trial.

Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has been charged in a sweeping federal indictment outlineing three separate schemes the disgraced South Carolina attorney allegedly used to steal money and property from his personal injury clients

Murdaugh, 54, was convicted in March of murdering his own wife and son, and handed two life sentences to serve in South Carolina state prison.

Prosecutors said he stole millions of dollars from clients and partners, and found himself teetering on financial disaster, which led him to fatally shoot his 22-year-old son, Paul, and 52-year-old wife, Maggie, at their Colleton County home.

'Trust in our legal system begins with trust in its lawyers,' said US Attorney Adair F. Boroughs in a statement. 

'South Carolinians turn to lawyers when they are at their most vulnerable, and in our state, those who abuse the public's trust and enrich themselves by fraud, theft, and self-dealing will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,' he added. 

The new indictment describes three financial fraud schemes, including one to siphon an insurance settlement in the aftermath of the death of Murdaugh's longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.

Satterfield died in February 2018 after appearing to suffer a fall on the stairs of the Murdaugh family home.

The indictment, echoing allegations from prior civil suits, says that Murdaugh conspired with Cory Fleming, a personal injury attorney in Beaufort, and encouraged Satterfield's family to sue him for an insurance payout using Fleming as their attorney.

Murdaugh's insurance companies settled the estate's claim for $505,000 and $3,800,000, but the indictment alleges that Murdaugh and Fleming conspired to siphon settlement funds for their own personal enrichment. 

Prosecutors named banker Russell Laffitte (left), and Murdaugh's college buddy and suspended lawyer Cory Fleming (right) as co-conspirators in the alleged fraud schemes

Prosecutors say Murdaugh directed the Beaufort attorney to draft checks totaling $3,483,431.95 made payable to a phony account he set up under the name of 'Forge.' 

Fleming, Murdaugh's former law school classmate, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to court records filed Wednesday. 

From 2011 to 2021, Murdaugh made about $16 million as a lawyer, while stealing about $9 million from his law firm, settlement money for clients and other places, according to prior indictments. 

Murdaugh faces the following charges in the new indictment: 

• One count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000
• One count of bank fraud, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000
• Two counts of wire fraud, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000
• Three counts of wire fraud, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000
• One count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000 
• Fourteen counts of money laundering, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 

Developing story, more to follow.