State Grand Jury indicts Russell Laffitte, along with Cory Fleming and Alex Murdaugh for new charges in superseding indictments

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced today that the South Carolina State Grand Jury issued three superseding indictments which include new charges against former banker Russell Lucius Laffitte, as well as suspended attorneys Richard Alexander Murdaugh and Cory Howerton Fleming. In addition to charges previously indicted by the State Grand Jury, the superseding indictments 2022-GS-47-01, 2022-GS-47-02, and 2022-GS-47-03 contain 21 new charges against Laffitte, four new charges against Murdaugh, and five new charges against Fleming.

Laffitte, 51, was the Chief Executive Officer of Palmetto State Bank until the bank terminated his employment on January 7, 2022. Laffitte was not previously indicted in connection with the State Grand Jury’s investigation.

Murdaugh, 53, was suspended from the practice of law by Order of the Supreme Court of South Carolina on September 8, 2021. Murdaugh was previously indicted by a Colleton County Grand Jury for offenses related to a scheme to commit suicide and defraud an insurance company. Murdaugh also was indicted by the South Carolina State Grand Jury in November 2021, December 2021, January 2022, and March 2022 for 75 counts including Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Obtaining Property by False Pretenses, Money Laundering, Computer Crimes, Forgery, and Criminal Conspiracy. Murdaugh is currently in custody at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.

Fleming, 53, was suspended from the practice of law by Order of the Supreme Court of South Carolina on October 8, 2021. Fleming was previously indicted in March 2022 by the South Carolina State Grand Jury for 18 counts including Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Money Laundering, Computer Crimes, and Criminal Conspiracy.  Fleming is currently out on bond for the previously unsealed State Grand Jury charges.

In the first superseding April indictment, 2022-GS-47-01, venued in Hampton County, the State Grand Jury charges Murdaugh and Laffitte together with one count of Criminal Conspiracy for allegedly conspiring to surreptitiously misappropriate to Murdaugh $350,245.08 in funds Laffitte held in trust as conservator for Natarsha Thomas at Palmetto State Bank. The indictment further charges Laffitte individually for Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value More than $10,000 (2 counts); and Computer Crime, Value More than $10,000; in connection with the alleged scheme.

In the second superseding April indictment, 2022-GS-47-02, venued in Hampton County, the State Grand Jury charges Murdaugh and Laffitte together with one count of Criminal Conspiracy for allegedly conspiring to surreptitiously misappropriate to Murdaugh $309,581.46 in funds Laffitte held in trust as conservator for Hakeem L. Pinckney and his Estate at Palmetto State Bank, in order in part to allow Murdaugh to pay back loans Laffitte had issued to him from client funds in an unrelated case in which Laffitte also served as a fiduciary. The indictment further charges Laffitte individually for Computer Crime, Value More than $10,000, and Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value More than $10,000, in connection with the alleged scheme.

The second superseding April indictment additionally charges Murdaugh and Fleming together with one count of Criminal Conspiracy for allegedly conspiring to surreptitiously misappropriate to Murdaugh $89,133.44 in funds Fleming held in trust as attorney for Pamela Pinckney.  The indictment further charges Fleming individually for Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value More than $10,000 in connection with the alleged scheme. Independent of the conspiracy, the indictment additionally charges Fleming individually for Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value More than $2,000, but less than $10,000; and Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value Less than $2,000; in connection with his alleged use of funds he held in trust as attorney for Pamela Pinckney totaling $8,078.46, for personal expenses to take himself, Murdaugh, and another attorney on a private plane to the 2012 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.  Finally, the indictment also charges Fleming individually for Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value More than $2,000, but less than $10,000, for allegedly misappropriating to Murdaugh $4,560.00 in funds Fleming held in trust as attorney for Pamela Pinckney, under the false and fictitious guise of unspecific case expenses.

In the third superseding April indictment, 2022-GS-47-03, venued in Allendale County, the State Grand Jury charges Murdaugh and Laffitte together with one count of Criminal Conspiracy for allegedly conspiring to surreptitiously misappropriate to Murdaugh $1,172,945.76 in funds Laffitte controlled at Palmetto State Bank, in order in part to allow Murdaugh to pay back loans Laffitte had issued to him from client funds in an unrelated case in which Laffitte served as a fiduciary. The indictment further charges Laffitte as an aider and abettor to Murdaugh in 12 counts of Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value More than $10,000, in connection with the alleged scheme.

The crimes charged in the indictments carry the following classifications and penalties:

• Computer Crime, Value $10,000 or More, is a felony punishable upon conviction by imprisonment for up to five years and/or a fine of up to $50,000.
• Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value $10,000 or More, is a felony punishable upon conviction by imprisonment for up to 10 years, or a fine at the discretion of the court.
• Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value More than $2,000 but less than $10,000, is a felony punishable upon conviction by imprisonment for up to five years, or a fine at the discretion of the court.
• Breach of Trust with Fraudulent Intent, Value Less than $2,000, is a misdemeanor punishable upon conviction by imprisonment for up to 30 days, or a fine of up to $1,000.
• Criminal Conspiracy, is a felony punishable upon conviction by imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to $5,000.

Altogether, through 15 indictments containing 79 charges against Murdaugh, the State Grand Jury has indicted Murdaugh for schemes to defraud victims of $8,492,888.31. Although some of the amounts as to Fleming and Laffitte overlap as to the alleged amounts for Murdaugh, as to Fleming, through two indictments containing 23 charges against him, the State Grand Jury has indicted Fleming for schemes to defraud victims of $3,725,203.85. As to Laffitte, through three indictments containing 21 charges against him, the State Grand Jury has indicted Laffitte for schemes to defraud victims of $1,832,772.30.

This State Grand Jury investigation is being conducted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Attorney’s Office. The case will be prosecuted by The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office.

Attorney General Wilson stressed that all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.

You can read the indictments here, here, and here.