A federal judge in South Carolina has ordered disgraced law heir Alex Murdaugh and his accomplices to file multiple charges against insurance companies for conspiring to steal nearly $4 million in insurance money from his family after the death of his housekeeper. ordered to pay a million dollars.
A judge ordered Murdaugh to pay $14.8 million and Murdaugh's longtime friend and fellow lawyer Cory Fleming nearly $3.8 million in a federal civil suit against Fleming.
Fleming went on trial for two days in Charleston before U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel handed down the settlement order.
“Fleming's unfair and deceptive conduct played a significant role in Murdaugh's ability to ultimately steal more than $4 million in settlement funds,” Gergel wrote in the settlement order filed Jan. 9. I wrote it in part.
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Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive double life sentences for the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, his wife and son. (South Carolina Department of Corrections)
Murdaugh's housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, appears to have tripped and fallen on the front steps of the Murdaugh family's home on a hunting land in South Carolina., He died in Moselle and later died in hospital.
Murdaugh convinced his sons to sue their insurance company, Nautilus, and Nautilus paid them more than $4 million, much of it stolen by Murdough, according to court documents.
Murdaugh “admitted that in order to obtain payment from the insurance company, he “fabricated the story of the dog that killed Gloria Satterfield,'' and that he actually stole with the intent to obtain payment from the insurance company.” admitted Mr. Gergel. he wrote in the January 2nd order.
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Former attorney Cory Fleming in state court on August 23, 2023. (country)
“The motion for judgment against Defendant Murdaugh does not affect the claims Plaintiff asserts against the remaining Defendants, Corey Fleming and Moss & Coon of Pennsylvania,” Gergel said.
According to charging documents filed against Fleming, the attorney allegedly worked with Murdaugh to deposit forged settlement checks into fraudulent bank accounts believed to be in the name of an insurance advisory firm.
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In 2018, the Murdaugh family said their housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died at a hospital after falling down the front porch steps on a hunting property in South Carolina. (Eric Brand)
Mr. Fleming claimed in the federal civil suit that he owed nothing to Mr. Murdaugh's former insurance company, Nautilus.
“The court found that defendant Fleming committed an “intentional or willful violation.'' [the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act] As a result, the plaintiff's damages will be tripled to $3.75 million. ”
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Gloria Satterfield's son Michael Tony Satterfield points out Alex Murdaugh during Murdaugh's double murder trial in Colleton County Courthouse on February 3, 2023 in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Sam Wolfe/State, Pool)
A federal jury also awarded Nautilus a total of $1.25 million in damages, Gergel said in his Jan. 9 filing.
“Plaintiffs demonstrated at trial that defendant Corey Fleming committed unfair and deceptive acts on multiple occasions in his handling of the wrongful death and survival claims of the Gloria Satterfield Estate,” Gergel said. wrote. “These include multiple unethical communications with Richard Alexander Murdaugh, a potential defendant in this case, as plaintiff's attorney, even though Murdaugh was represented by an attorney. .”
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Alex Murdaugh cries while listening to testimony during his double murder trial in Colleton County Court on February 27, 2023. (Jeff Blake/State/Pool)
“Additionally, Fleming made false statements to opposing counsel and the excess carrier regarding his alleged communications with one of the Satterfield Estates' beneficiaries and a potential issuer of the structured settlement,” Gergel said. continued.
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The $4 million Murdaugh stole from the Satterfield family is part of 100 financial crime charges involving millions of dollars in funds Murdaugh stole from former law firm clients.
A photo of the Murdaugh family taken days before Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were shot. From left: Buster, Paul, Maggie, and Alex Murdaugh. (Defense exhibition)
Murdaugh was previously sentenced to 40 years in prison for financial crimes in federal court and 27 years in prison for financial crimes in state court.
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These sentences were imposed in addition to a life sentence for the 2021 murders of his wife Maggie and youngest son Paul.
A Colleton County jury found the disgraced attorney guilty of shooting Maggie and Paul near a dog house on the family's hunting property in June of that year. Prosecutors say he was trying to distract from mounting financial crimes, which began to emerge around the time.
