Former SC banker Russell Laffitte due in Charleston federal court for Wednesday hearing
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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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Former Hampton banker Russell Laffitte, who faces an array of fraud charges linked to disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh, is due in a Charleston courtroom Wednesday for an initial hearing and arraignment.
Federal Judge Richard Gergel has been appointed to oversee the bank fraud proceedings against Laffitte, but Wednesday’s hearing will be before U.S. Magistrate Judge Molly Cherry.
Laffitte, 51, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on an array of bank and wire fraud in connection with alleged schemes by Murdaugh to misappropriate millions of dollars supposedly under bank supervision.
The indictment, issued July 20 by a federal grand jury in Columbia, alleges a longstanding conspiracy between an unidentified “bank customer,” whom sources identified as Murdaugh, and Laffitte to use the Palmetto State Bank in Hampton County as a tool for laundering money that Murdaugh stole.
Murdaugh faces multiple state grand jury charges alleging he stole some $8.4 million from clients, his law firm and others since 2011. Laffitte has also been indicted by a state grand jury on fraud charges linked to Murdaugh’s alleged schemes.
A Colleton County grand jury also indicted Murdaugh earlier this month on charges of murder in connection with the June 2021 killings of his wife Maggie, and his son Paul. Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty.
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