Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Alex Murdaugh sued by his former law firm for allegedly stealing client funds

Prominent South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh is under arrest by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, according to a release from SLED. (Hampton County Detention Center) Prominent South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh is under arrest by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, according to a release from SLED. (Hampton County Detention Center)
Share

former law firm is suing him to recover funds it alleges he stole from clients for his own personal use, according to a statement from the firm Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Elztroth, and Detrick released Wednesday.

The firm alleges Murdaugh "developed a systematic scheme in which he diverted funds owed to the firm and to clients to a fictitious entity" for many years.

Murdaugh, a once prominent South Carolina attorney, but survived. The 53-year-old later admitted to authorities he conspired with , a former client, to kill him as part of a fraud scheme so that his only surviving son could collect a US$10 million life insurance payout.

Murdaugh has since been charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report. He was released on bond and, according to his attorneys, remains in a drug rehab program after professing to a 20-year struggle with opioid addiction.

In June, Murdaugh reported to police that on their property in Islandton. They both had been shot to death. Authorities have not identified a motive or suspect in that case.

The law firm's complaint, filed Wednesday in Colleton County Court in South Carolina, reads in part: "PMPED has determined that Alex Murdaugh was able to covertly steal these funds by disguising disbursements from settlements as payments to an annuity company, trust account or structured settlement for clients or as structured attorney's fees that he had earned when in fact they were deposited into the fictious account at Bank of America."

The complaint also claims Murdaugh "used firm assets in an unauthorized manner and without the consent or knowledge of his other shareholders to further his scheme to defraud."

Jim Griffin, an attorney for Murdaugh, told CNN he has not seen the complaint.

"This is a very sad development," Griffin wrote in an email. "Alex holds every member of the Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth, Detrick law firm in very high esteem. He has pledged his full cooperation to the firm."

The firm's lawsuit is seeking damages "for the costs of this action" and discovery to find out where the alleged stolen money went.

Alex Murdaugh at the firm's request, after what it said was a misappropriation of funds. In a statement released last month, PMPED previously claimed Murdaugh "."

"We were shocked and dismayed to learn that Alex violated our principles and code of ethics. He lied and he stole from us," Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick said.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

A B.C. condo owner who was blamed for a cockroach infestation in her building and charged thousands of dollars for the cost of eradicating the bugs must be refunded, the civil resolution tribunal ruled.

Local Spotlight

On Saturday night at her parents’ home in Delaware, Ont. the Olympic bronze medallist in pole vault welcomed everyone who played a role in getting her to the podium in Paris.

A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.

When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.

A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.

Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.

Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.

A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.

An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.