Alex Murdaugh Faces 27 New Charges for Allegedly Stealing $4.8M from Clients and Victims and Laundering Money

Jailed attorney Alex Murdaugh is facing 27 new counts after a South Carolina state grand jury indicted him for an alleged $4.8 million in financial crimes including stealing funds from victims and clients and money laundering, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Friday.

Murdaugh, 53, is facing the charges in five counties, including Colleton and Beaufort, according to a release from the Attorney General's Office. He has been charged with four counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent; seven counts of obtaining signature or property by false pretenses; seven counts of money laundering; Eight counts of computer crimes; and one count of Forgery

The indictments can be read here, here, here, here, and here, according to the release.

"Altogether, Murdaugh is charged with respect to alleged schemes to defraud victims and thereafter launder $4,853,488.09," the press release says.

Murdaugh is accused of misappropriating $3.4 million in Beaufort County, which correlates with the amount of money he allegedly bilked from the estate of his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, The State reports.

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"This doesn't appear to add anything new to the case other than additional charges," Jim Griffin, one of Murdaugh's lawyers, told The State.

This State Grand Jury investigation has been led by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, according to the release.

"Attorney General Wilson would also like to acknowledge the involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office," the release says.

The case will be prosecuted by the South Carolina Attorney General's Office.

Shocking New Allegations

Murdaugh remains jailed for allegedly hiring a distant cousin and former client to shoot him in the head on Sept. 4 and making it look like a suicide so his surviving son could collect $10 million in life insurance money.

Curtis Smith, 61, who allegedly helped Murdaugh in the scheme, is also facing criminal charges from the botched suicide-for-hire plot.

He has denied shooting Murdaugh.

Now The State and Island Packet newspapers both report that Murdaugh allegedly paid Smith $155,970 over six months, from October 2020 to May 2021, according to copies of the checks and bank documents.

Murdaugh allegedly paid Smith with 17 separate cashier's checks.

Smith has denied receiving any money from Murdaugh, The State reports.

"We are not surprised by these new charges relating to Alex's handling of client funds and law firm fees," a spokesperson for Murdaugh tells PEOPLE. "We have made it clear that Alex regrets that his actions have diverted attention from solving the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul."

Tangled Web

The once-prominent attorney made headlines in June when he found his wife and son shot to death on their rural Low Country estate.

No suspects have been arrested. Murdaugh is a person of interest in the case.

In September, he was arrested and charged after saying he was shot in the alleged suicide-for-hire scheme to defraud an insurance company.

At that same time, the prestious law firm where he worked – which was founded by his great-grandfather a century ago – accused him of embezzling funds from the company and pushed him out. The law firm is now suing Murdaugh.

After a stint in rehab for what his lawyer said was an opioid addiction, he was taken into custody and remains held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on criminal charges.