This week, we highlight the case of Richard Alexander Murdaugh a.k.a Alex Murdaugh, a former Attorney of South Carolina, United States of America, who was sentenced for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.

Murdaugh was engaged in three different schemes to obtain money and property from his clients. Murdaugh routed and redirected clients’ settlement funds to personally enrich himself, including drafting disbursement sheets, claiming funds held in the law firm’s trust account as attorney’s fees, creating fraudulent expenses, and directing the disbursement of settlement funds to pay cited costs. Murdaugh also conspired with his banker, Russell Laffitte, to commit wire and bank fraud. Laffitte was convicted on six federal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud. Murdaugh created a fake bank account in 2015, presenting as a legitimate corporation for structuring insurance settlements. He was using the transactions in the fake Forge account to conceal the proceeds of his fraud. Murdaugh and a personal injury attorney in Beaufort conspired to defraud the estate of Murdaugh’s former housekeeper and homeowner’s insurance carriers, swindling settlement funds disguised as prosecution expenses.