Viers pleads guilty to money laundering in federal case

Former S.C. representative Thad Viers, a Myrtle Beach attorney, pleaded guilty Tuesday to money laundering in federal court.

The case against the former Republican legislator from Socastee involved his legal representation of Marlon Weaver, owner of a Conway construction company contracted to do paving and asphalt work on I-95 in 2008.

Weaver’s company was declared in default of its contract in November 2009, resulting in a $6 million bill owed to S.C. DOT, which was paid by Safeco, a bonding company. Weaver then tried to hide his assets, the government argued.

After paying the $6 million, Safeco sued Weaver to recoup the money.

The government argued that Viers, who was hired by Weaver to represent him in the Safeco suit, “either knew the funds involved were proceeds of some criminal activity, or he was aware of a high probability the funds were the proceeds of some criminal activity and he deliberately avoided learning of the activity.”

Weaver tried to hide some of his assets in several companies by backdating sale of ownership of those assets to his daughter, US Attorney Bill Nettles said in a news release. . One of those companies was Gold & Silver, LLC, an investment business owned by Archie Evans.

Weaver paid Viers a retainer of $500,000, only $10,000 of which was actually for the retainer, the government said. The rest, $490,000, was money from Weaver’s company that he “had pulled out of Weaver Company (Inc.) to prevent SafeCo from getting it,” the government said.

After depositing $490,000 into his bank account, Viers almost immediately wrote a check for $400,000 to Archie Evans Ministries. This was money Weaver was secretly investing in Evans’ Gold & Silver, LLC, the government prosecutor said. . The extra $90,000 Viers deposit in his campaign account, which he returned to Weaver after earning about $30,000 in legal fees.

In 2011, Viers opened a trust account at the First Citizen’s Bank for Weaver through which Weaver laundered assets gained in the sale of a marina, the government said.. Evans would deposit money in the account and Viers would authorize Weaver to withdraw funds, the government contended..

Evans previously pled guilty for his involvement in the Ponzi scheme related to this case and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. Weaver pled guilty to mail fraud and is awaiting sentencing.

Viers, who could get 10 years in prison and/or a fine of $250,000, will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brucie Howe Hendricks of Charleston at a later date.

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 1:37 AM with the headline "Viers pleads guilty to money laundering in federal case."