Disbarred South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, accused of killing his wife and son, faces new financial crimes charges

Disbarred South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, already accused of killing his wife and son, was indicted on multiple money laundering and computer crime charges, authorities said Friday.

A grand jury indicted him on nine criminal counts, including two for money laundering of between $20,000 and $100,000, another count of money laundering of more than $100,000, two for a computer crime involving more than $10,000 and four counts of obtaining a signature or property by false pretenses for at least $10,000.

While the indictments were issued Tuesday, they were only made public by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson on Friday.

Earlier this year, a grand jury indicted Murdaugh on murder charges in the slayings of his wife and son last year.

The slayings and the arrest of the high-profile attorney have rocked South Carolina's legal community. Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and the couple’s younger son, Paul, 22, were found shot to death on the night of June 7, 2021, at their rural estate and hunting lodge in Colleton County, near Charleston.

Murdaugh, who worked as a personal injury attorney, had his law license revoked before the state's high court disbarred him.

In these new sets of allegations, the grand jury found there was evidence that Murdaugh took $91,867.50 in late December 2020 or early January 2021 and $83,333.33 on May 21, 2021, in funds that should have gone to the firm but instead went to an "account he controlled," according to the court documents.

The grand jury also found evidence that Murdaugh, in 2017-18, took advantage of an error by the firm's accounting office which sent $121,358.63 to him for a loan repayment, when that money should have gone to the defendant's brother, who was owed those funds.

Murdaugh called attention to the mistake and had the firm cut another check of the same amount, according to court documents. But the "firm did not put a stop payment with the bank on the original check" and Murdaugh ended up depositing both drafts "and converted those funds to personal use," the indictment read.

Defense lawyers for Murdaugh could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.