A disbarred South Carolina attorney accused of murdering his wife and son has been charged with additional financial offenses. This time, Alex Murdaugh allegedly took $295,000 from his brother and the law practice founded by his famed legal family a century ago, according to authorities.
Indictments handed down by the State Grand Jury on Tuesday and made public on Friday include nine new allegations against Murdaugh, 54, including four counts of obtaining property under false pretenses, three counts of money laundering, and two counts of computer crimes.
Murdaugh is set to face murder charges in January for the June 2021 shooting deaths of his 52-year-old wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul. Investigators said they were killed with several firearms outside of one of the family’s homes in Colleton County.
Murdaugh faces approximately 90 charges in total. Prosecutors allege that he misappropriated at least $8.5 million from settlements he obtained for approximately a dozen disadvantaged clients in accident or wrongful death cases.
Alex Murdaugh, once a distinguished attorney in South Carolina, appears at his bond hearing on October 19, 2021 in Richland County, South Carolina.
However, according to the investigators, he also laundered money through a narcotics ring and by issuing 437 checks totaling $2.4 million to associates and others in order to circumvent bank reporting laws. Investigators said Murdaugh attempted to convince a man to kill him so that his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy.
Murdaugh risks 30 years to life in jail without the possibility of parole if found guilty of murder. The crime is also punishable by death, although prosecutors have not said whether they will seek it. The dozens of additional charges carry a maximum prison sentence of hundreds of years.
Prosecutors alleged in the most recent set of accusations that Murdaugh seized money from the law business founded by his family more than a century ago, PMPED, and transformed himself into a legal titan, earning millions of dollars in verdicts in tiny Hampton County.
Some attorneys would loan the business money at the beginning of the year to cover expenses, and they would be repaid when regular revenue began to flow in. According to one accusation, although Murdaugh did not participate, the company unintentionally sent him a $121,000 loan repayment cheque that was intended for his brother.
According to a second accusation, Murdaugh also stole around $175,000 in settlements that were intended to go to the law firm.
Investigators claim that Murdaugh concealed the funds from banking restrictions through smaller internet transfers and cheques sent to himself and others, resulting in allegations of money laundering and computer crime.
Murdaugh has vehemently denied through his counsel that he murdered his wife and son. According to his attorneys, he also intends to rectify whatever financial injustice he can.
Murdaugh’s father, grandpa, and great-grandfather served as elected prosecutors in Hampton County and four adjoining counties for almost 80 years.