COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina bank said it has settled with the estate of Alex Murdaugh's deceased housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, after initially being named as a defendant in a lawsuit seeking damages for alleged millions in missing settlement money.
The total now collected in confidential legal settlements from organizations and people involved in the once-prominent attorney Murdaugh's alleged mishandling of some $3.3 to $4 million in Satterfield insurance proceeds amounts to more than $4.3 million, said attorney Eric Bland. Bland and his partner Ronnie Richter have made legal claims on the missing money.
Palmetto State Bank, whose Vice President Chad Westendorf was supposed to oversee the distribution of some $3.3 million to Satterfield's heirs, announced Thursday it had settled a lawsuit against it and Westendorf. Westendorf served as the personal representative of Satterfield's two sons in a settlement deal proposed by Murdaugh. However, the sons got nothing.
Under terms of the confidential settlements, Bland said, he is allowed to make public the total amount of money, but not individual amounts from the separate entities.
The entities who have paid parts of the more than $4.3 million are Beaufort lawyer Cory Fleming; his former law firm, Moss, Kuhn & Fleming; Palmetto State Bank; and Westendorf. A settlement was also reached with Murdaugh's former law firm, PMPED, which was not named in the lawsuit but was allegedly involved in the Satterfield matter, Bland said.
The bank also declined to make public how much was settled between the two parties.
The $4.3 million figure is the amount siphoned from the Satterfields via an alleged scheme orchestrated by Murdaugh and two associates, according to the lawsuit Bland and Richter filed in mid-September.
"Although Palmetto State Bank never handled the settlement funds nor was it responsible for the alleged actions of Alex Murdaugh, Palmetto State Bank and its board of directors made the business decision to prioritize ending this matter for the mutual benefit of Ms. Satterfield's sons, its customers and shareholders, and the Hampton community at large," the statement said.
In the two months following the lawsuit's filings, entities and attorneys have peeled away from any associations with Murdaugh, reaching settlements and making statements.
Even Murdaugh's former law firm, from which he resigned after allegations of embezzlement, settled with the Satterfield family despite not being sued, Bland said. Some documents used as exhibits in the lawsuit indicated that Murdaugh had used PMPED (Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth and Detrick) law firm resources in the alleged scheme.
Westendorf was removed from the lawsuit Oct. 12, while Palmetto State Bank, which is located in Hampton, stayed on.
The lawsuit stated that Murdaugh proposed Westendorf as the sons' representative, and friend/lawyer Cory Fleming as their attorney in a plan to file a wrongful death suit against Murdaugh. Gloria Satterfield was a nanny and housekeeper for the Murdaugh family for over 20 years and died at the Murdaugh home in Colleton County after a trip and fall (which is under criminal investigation).
A settlement with insurance money was approved, with a South Carolina judge signing off, totaling $4.3 million. Checks went to Westendorf, Fleming, and Fleming's firm, before $3.4 million were sent to Post Office boxes in Hampton with the fraudulent name "Forge."
The $3.4 million, the lawsuit and arrest warrants maintain, went to Murdaugh for his own enrichment.
Murdaugh, from a prominent South Carolina legal family, has seen a stunning fall from grace. In early September, his former law firm said he had stolen millions in client funds. The South Carolina Supreme Court suspended his law license. Murdaugh also resigned from his family law firm.
In mid-September, after Bland and Richter filed their lawsuit alleging Murdaugh and his associates had stolen up to $4.3 million from the Satterfield heirs, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division — using information that surfaced in the lawsuit — charged Murdaugh with stealing Satterfield's heirs' money.
Bland and Richter issued this statement: "We're very proud of the work we've done on behalf of our clients, who are worthy of our efforts. ... the media has been very helpful in disseminating key facts and developments. We put overwhelming force on the target parties. It has been a wild ride."
In recent weeks, a state judge has frozen Murdaugh's assets and put them under control of receivers. Another judge has denied bond to Murdaugh on criminal charges stemming from the Satterfield lawsuit and Murdaugh is being held in jail indefinitely. Murdaugh's lawsuits have petitioned the state Supreme Court to require the judge to grant him bond.
Meanwhile, Murdaugh is the subject of several criminal inquiries at the state and federal levels. In June, Murdaugh's wife, Maggie, and their son Paul were found shot to death on the grounds of the Murdaugh estate in Colleton County. No one has been arrested in those killings.
