Alex Murdaugh was mastermind in diverting over $3.5M in death settlement checks, court docs say
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Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
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Alex Murdaugh diverted more than $3.5 million in death settlement money meant for the sons of his family’s deceased housekeeper to an account said to be fraudulent, according to new court documents filed Tuesday.
The distribution of the money to the housekeeper’s heirs was supposed to take place as part of an overall $4.3 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the housekeeper’s sons against Murdaugh, in whose family home Gloria Satterfield was working in 2018 when she tripped and fell, resulting in her death.
Instead, the heirs — Satterfield’s two sons, Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriott— got nothing and were kept completely in the dark in what became a story of “trust and betrayal,” a lawsuit on their behalf alleges.
The 2019 court-approved settlement of how all the money was to be distributed was overseen by Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen, according to court records.
Defendants in the case brought by Satterfield’s sons are suspended attorney Alex Murdaugh and two men who allegedly took part in a scheme to deprive the sons of their money, Beaufort attorney Cory Fleming and Hampton banker Chad Westendorf.
Satterfield’s sons put their trust in Murdaugh to handle Satterfield’s insurance proceeds correctly, and then Murdaugh, Fleming and Westendorf all “lied” to the court in their handling of the money, Tuesday’s court filing says.
In a Tuesday interview, attorney Eric Bland said sent a notice to Judge Mullen telling her he wants to take a formal videotape deposition about her memories of what happened, and who did what, in the distribution of the $4.3 million in insurance proceeds — most of which was supposed to go to Satterfield’s sons. He asked the judge to be present at the Beaufort County courthouse on Oct. 20 for the deposition.
“It is very rare to take the deposition of a judge, but she was a witness to many of the things that went on,” Bland said.
On Wednesday, however, Bland said he no longer needed to take Mullen’s deposition and was dropping his request. Bland said he had since received information that enables him to completely prove his case against defendants Murdaugh, Fleming and Westendorft.
Bland said Tuesday that Mullen had recently recused herself from being a judge in all Murdaugh-related proceedings, so she should be a neutral and worthwhile witness who could testify in a deposition about what happened.
However, judges do not normally give depositions or answer questions about cases they preside over. Mullen had been expected to resist any attempt to depose her.
Bland’s filing on Tuesday is the first that purports to offer a complete picture, with photocopies of checks and letters as exhibits, of how Murdaugh allegedly directed others to move settlement money away from Satterfield’s heirs.
Copies of checks are attached to the filing showing the exact dollar amounts of death settlement money that was approved in court by a circuit judge but never reached its intended recipients. The checks had a false name for its recipient and were sent to a P.O. Box in Hampton.
Additionally, lawyers for Satterfield’s sons call on parties involved in the case — Alex Murdaugh, Cory Fleming, Chad Westendorf — to testify under oath about what happened to the settlement funds. The documents also allegedly show how Murdaugh’s former law firm, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick, was aware of the Satterfield settlement case early on.
What happened?
Gloria Satterfield, who worked for the Murdaugh family home for over 20 years, died on Feb. 26, 2018, after a fall in the Murdaugh family home.
After her funeral, Murdaugh told Satterfield’s two sons, Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriott, “that Gloria’s fall was his fault and that he would take Gloria’s sons to an attorney for the purpose of making a legal claim against Murdaugh,” according to the lawsuit. He introduced them to Cory Fleming who, unbeknownst to them, was Murdaugh’s former college roommate and godfather to his son Paul.
From there, Fleming suggested that Chad Westendorf, vice president of Palmetto State Bank, take over as the family’s legal representative in the wrongful death claim. The sons conceded, and Westendorf was appointed on Dec. 18, 2018.
With Fleming as their lawyer and Westendorf as their representative, the sons no longer heard from either of them about “any meaningful developments” in the case or whether a settlement was reached.
Additionally, Murdaugh continued to work on both sides of the claim, the lawsuit says, where he “acted as the attorney for the Personal Representative and the Estate through his partnership of PMPED.”
Over next few months, Fleming made two separate wrongful death claims for Satterfield’s sons: one for $505,000, and one for $3.8 million.
Of the $3.8 million, the sons were supposed to receive $2.76 million, with the rest going to attorneys’ fees.
The attorneys met with Judge Mullen on both claims, and both were approved, according to the lawsuit.
However, checks attached to the filing show that for both claims, Fleming wrote the settlement checks to an account titled “Forge.”
Forge Consulting LLC, an Atlanta-based company, is known for creating settlement structures to stretch out settlement payments over time. Forge recently released a statement saying it had “no involvement in or knowledge of the alleged inappropriate conduct of Alex Murdaugh.”
Fleming was directed by Murdaugh to write the checks to “Forge,” which were sent to “a P.O. Box in Hampton, South Carolina,” the filing alleges.
The “Forge” on the checking account has nothing to do with Forge Consulting LLC, the lawsuit said.
In total, more than $3.5 million was sent by Fleming via Murdaugh to “Forge,” according to the documents.
Satterfield’s sons were never told of any settlement nor of any meetings occurring. They did not go to any of the hearings where the settlements were approved.
Were Mullen, PMPED involved?
According to the documents, Judge Mullen was misled by Fleming, Murdaugh and Westendorf. The filing charges that they lied to the court.
That’s because the payments that were approved were not disbursed to the Satterfield sons, the orders were never filed, and the lawyers and banker represented to Mullen that the Satterfield sons were aware of what was going on when they weren’t, the documents allege.
While Fleming and his law firm agreed to pay back fees owed to the Satterfield sons on Friday, lawyers for the sons said they intend to pursue “other culpable parties who resist acceptance of responsibility for their part in this tragic matter,” according to a statement.
On Monday, Murdaugh’s lawyer Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, said Murdaugh did not yet have civil representation and has not been served with the lawsuit.
Additionally, the documents show that Murdaugh’s former law firm, Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, — which has attempted to distance itself from Murdaugh over the last month — could be implicated in the scheme.
PMPED, the law firm, represented both Satterfield’s estate and the then-representative of the estate, Tony Satterfield, the lawsuit said.
The firm “sent letters of representation of the Estate to third parties, prepared probate documents for the Estate and the Personal Representative of the Estate, notarized probate documents and exchanged emails with Cory Fleming ... and the beneficiaries of the Estate about the settlement funds,” the lawsuit said.
PMPED, however, has denied involvement in the Satterfield case, according to a message on their website.
“It’s important for everyone to know that PMPED did not represent Alex in that case. His insurance company hired counsel to represent him,” the message said.
The S.C. Law Enforcement Division is also investigating the death of Gloria Satterfield, which was listed as “natural” when she died after a trip-and-fall accident. No autopsy was ever done. SLED’s chief said the allegations in Bland’s lawsuit of financial misconduct will be a part of the investigation.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 5:55 PM.
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