US Attorney
Clients defrauded of millions: Alex Murdaugh, convicted of double murder, pleads guilty
US Attorney Alex Murdaugh is currently serving a life sentence in prison after being found guilty of murdering his wife and son
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In March, a jury sentenced U.S. Attorney Alex Murdaugh to life in prison for the murders of his wife and son. But the 55-year-old is also said to have stolen millions of dollars from his clients. He now pleaded guilty in court.
The Alex Murdaugh case caused a global stir at the beginning of the year. The member of an influential legal dynasty was sentenced to life in prison in March after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife, 52, and son, 22. But the 55-year-old is also accused of defrauding his clients of money for decades.
In a South Carolina district court on Monday, Murdaugh pleaded guilty to 22 counts, including bank fraud and money laundering. The agreement now needs to be approved by a federal judge. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, some of them even 30 years.
Dozens more charges against Alex Murdaugh
Another lawyer and the former CEO of a bank are said to have been involved in the financial fraud. According to prosecutors, Murdaugh’s alleged accomplices helped him defraud customers of money from at least 2005 to 2021, as reported by the news channel CNN, among others. They are said to have helped him cheat his clients in personal injury cases and launder more than $7 million in funds. The two men have now been sentenced to long prison terms.
Alex Murdaugh’s next trial awaits in November. Among other things, he is said to have defrauded the estate of his late housekeeper and the insurance companies out of almost $3.5 million. This is the first of dozens of state charges filed against him over alleged fraud involving millions of dollars. The financial crimes he is accused of include embezzlement, computer crime, money laundering and tax evasion.
Murdaugh’s lawyers are fighting for a new trial for their client. They filed a motion for a new trial earlier this month, claiming a court clerk tampered with the jury. However, since the application contained several “procedural errors” in the eyes of the public prosecutor’s office, it should first be corrected again.
Watch the video: In February 2007, flight attendant Claudia Knapp was found dead by her son in their apartment in Velbert, North Rhine-Westphalia. The search for the perpetrator comes to nothing. 16 years later, the investigators can apparently clarify the cold case.
Sources: CNN, South Carolina Attorney General’s Office