Alex Murdaugh conspiracy: Hampton County ex-banker gets $1 million bond and house arrest

Michael M. DeWitt, Jr.
Greenville News
Hampton ex-banker Russell Lucius Laffitte received a $1 million surety bond and house arrest during a hearing on Friday.

A longtime Hampton County banker recently indicted in connection to the ongoing Richard "Alex" Murdaugh criminal investigations had his first day in court Friday during a virtual bond hearing in South Carolina.

Wearing a pea-green detention-center jumpsuit, and with his wife, sister and other family members looking on, Russell Lucius Laffitte sat facing 21 felony charges during the 10 a.m. bond hearing in Judge Alison Lee's virtual courtroom. 

Laffitte has not yet entered a plea in the case.

After hearing from the state, attorneys for Laffitte and attorneys for alleged victims, the judge granted Laffitte a $1 million surety bond with a 10% cash option plus numerous conditions if bond is posted.

Among the conditions, the South Carolina State Grand Jury requested that, if bond is posted, Laffitte be held on house arrest with electronic monitoring, surrender his passport and not be allowed to leave the state. Lee agreed to those conditions. 

The eyes of the world:Dispatches from Hampton County: The eyes of the world on a small town amid Murdaugh saga

Creighton Waters, chief attorney of the State Grand Jury Division of the Attorney General’s Office, also requested that Laffitte surrender all firearms, sign a waiver of extradition, not be allowed to waste or dispose of any assets, and have no contact with alleged victims or co-conspirators.

Laffitte is allowed to have contact with family members who also work at the bank founded by his family, Palmetto State Bank, but during that contact he must not discuss banking matters or the criminal allegations, said the judge. 

State Attorney General Alan Wilson announced on May 4 that the State Grand Jury had issued the indictments against Laffitte in April.

Laffitte, a third-generation Hampton County banker, is accused in a massive conspiracy of financial crimes involving Murdaugh, a third-generation Hampton County attorney.

Murdaugh has been charged with 82 crimes in an alleged decade-long, multi-county financial crime spree, and his wife and younger son were found shot to death at their Colleton County estate in June of 2021.

Palmetto State Bank in Hampton.

Laffitte, who did not address the court Friday, turned himself in to the Kershaw County Detention Center just prior to the bond hearing, according to Robert Kittle, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office.

Representing Laffitte were attorneys Bart Daniels and Matt Austin with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, a major law firm serving 15 states and the District of Columbia. The defense team asked the court to allow Laffitte to be released "on his own recognizance" or at least with a 10% cash option bond. They said Laffitte is not a flight risk and poses no danger to the community, nor could he carry out the kinds of crimes that have been alleged at the bank anymore. 

They also said Laffitte is an active member of the community, a lifelong resident with deep roots and has been fully cooperating with the investigation by providing interviews as well as statements and documents. 

"As soon as he found out what Alex had done — and he was tricked — he tried to make one of the victims whole," said Daniels.

Justin Bamberg, an attorney for one set of alleged victims, the Pinckney family, reminded the court that one of the victims was a quadriplegic, and that some of the alleged crimes occurred after Hakeem Pinckney suffocated and died in a nursing home.

"It was not as simple as white-collar stolen money," said Bamberg, adding that the alleged actions of Laffitte demonstrated "a level of callousness" and a "conscious disregard" for human life.

Bamberg also informed the court that Laffitte had put his home and other property for sale. This presented signs of Laffitte leaving the area, said Bamberg, who added that any money from this sale should go to the victims.

Bamberg had previously filed notice of intent to file a lawsuit against Laffitte, and placed a lien against Laffitte's property in Hampton County court.

Laffitte's attorneys said the house had been put on the market to provide money to "make the victims whole."

Judge Lee agreed for the parties to work out agreements to allow any funds from a potential sale of property to go into an escrow account for the alleged victims. 

Bamberg also told the court that Laffitte had access to weapons, and Bamberg said that just seven days prior to the hearing Laffitte was seen in a social media picture turkey hunting. 

"Mrs. Laffitte likes to hunt, and there may be a danger to local turkeys," countered defense attorney Austin, but Austin said there is no risk to the community. 

Waters said that Laffitte and Murdaugh had a long association, as did their families in Hampton County. As a banker, Laffitte is accused of using his position to help Murdaugh steal and then launder money from Murdaugh's legal clients' settlement funds, often converting settlement fund checks with victim's names on them to money orders or checks to Murdaugh or for his use, and allegedly giving "off the book" loans to Murdaugh.

Portions of the money allegedly stolen from these settlements, said Waters, was then spent in the form of "six-figure" checks to a Laffitte family member, a Murdaugh family member, and one of Murdaugh's former law partners. Details of those transactions were not discussed.

"We have 21 felonies to date in this ongoing investigation," said Waters. "These are very serious charges in a criminal conspiracy."

Waters had requested a bond of $25,000 per felony, which would equal roughly $500,000, but the judge set the bond even higher than requested. 

Laffitte's family has owned the Palmetto State Bank in Hampton for three generations, and he is currently the owner of 9% of its stock, or roughly more than 23,000 shares, Bamberg told the court.

Details of the charges

While Murdaugh has seen waves of indictments served against him since 2021, these are the sole indictments levied at this point against Laffitte, 51, who was the chief executive officer of Palmetto State Bank with 24 years of service until the bank terminated his employment on Jan. 7.

Through three indictments containing 21 charges, the State Grand Jury has indicted Laffitte for schemes to defraud victims of $1,832,772.30.These charges, if he is convicted, in theory equal 170 years in prison time, said Waters. 

The indictments:

► In the first superseding April indictment, venued in Hampton County, the State Grand Jury charges Murdaugh and Laffitte together with one count of criminal conspiracy for allegedly conspiring to "surreptitiously" misappropriate to Murdaugh $350,245.08 in funds Laffitte held in trust as conservator for Natarsha Thomas at Palmetto State Bank.

The indictment further charges Laffitte individually for breach of trust with fraudulent intent, value more than $10,000 (2 counts); and computer crime, value more than $10,000.

► In the second superseding April indictment, the State Grand Jury charges Murdaugh and Laffitte together with one count of criminal conspiracy for allegedly conspiring to misappropriate to Murdaugh $309,581.46 in funds Laffitte held in trust as conservator for Hakeem L. Pinckney and his estate at Palmetto State Bank, in order in part to allow Murdaugh to pay back loans Laffitte had issued to him from client funds in an unrelated case in which Laffitte also served as a fiduciary.

The indictment further charges Laffitte individually for computer crime, value more than $10,000, and breach of trust with fraudulent intent, value more than $10,000.

Other superseding April indictments announced Wednesday charge Murdaugh and Beaufort attorney Cory Fleming with similar charges. 

► In the third superseding April indictment, venued in Allendale County, the State Grand Jury charges Murdaugh and Laffitte together with one count of criminal conspiracy for allegedly conspiring to misappropriate to Murdaugh $1,172,945.76 in funds Laffitte controlled at Palmetto State Bank, in order in part to allow Murdaugh to pay back loans Laffitte had issued to him from client funds in an unrelated case in which Laffitte served as a fiduciary.

The indictment further charges Laffitte as an aider and abettor to Murdaugh in 12 counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent, value more than $10,000.

Murdaugh, 53, was suspended from the practice of law by Order of the state Supreme Court on Sept. 8, 2021.

Murdaugh is now facing a total of 82 criminal charges — 79 from State Grand Jury indictments and three local indictments — as well as nine civil suits filed directly against him and others connected to him in some manner.

Altogether, through 15 indictments containing 79 charges against Murdaugh, the State Grand Jury has indicted Murdaugh for schemes to defraud victims of $8,492,888.31. 

Murdaugh was also indicted by the State Grand Jury in November 2021, December 2021, January 2022, and March 2022 for a total of 75 counts including breach of trust with fraudulent intent, obtaining property by false pretenses, money laundering, computer crimes, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. Murdaugh was previously indicted by a Colleton County Grand Jury for offenses related to a scheme to commit suicide and defraud an insurance company.

Murdaugh is currently in custody at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County on a $7 million bond.

Fleming, 53, was suspended from the practice of law by Order of the Supreme Court of South Carolina on Oct. 8, 2021. Fleming was previously indicted in March 2022 by the State Grand Jury for 18 counts including breach of trust with fraudulent intent, money laundering, computer crimes, and criminal conspiracy. Fleming is currently out on bond for the previously unsealed State Grand Jury charges.

This State Grand Jury investigation is being conducted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the state Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The case will be prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s Office.

Attorneys for Laffitte's alleged victims thanked the Attorney General's Office and state law enforcement for their work in this case.