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 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.
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.
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