Ex-SC banker Russell Laffitte given Nov. 8 trial date on federal fraud charges

A federal judge on Monday gave former South Carolina banker Russell Laffitte, an alleged accomplice of disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh, a Nov. 8 date to go to trial in Charleston on various federal financial fraud charges.

Judge Richard Gergel said in a court filing that jury selection will begin Tuesday, Nov. 8, which is Election Day, and the trial will start “immediately” after a jury is chosen. The trial could last through Nov. 18.

The trial will be the first criminal trial involving Murdaugh or any of his associates who have been charged with either state or federal crimes in carrying out alleged illegal money-making schemes orchestrated by Murdaugh.

It is also the first and only federal case involving a Murdaugh associate. All other charges against Murdaugh and his alleged accomplices in various fraud schemes have been brought in state court.

Laffitte was indicted in July by a federal grand jury on a slew of bank and wire fraud charges.

In August, he was charged in a superceding indictment that contained more criminal allegations, including how Laffitte gave Murdaugh a $500,000 line of credit last summer for purported “farm” purposes.

He is now free on bond.

An indictment in the case alleges that Laffitte and an unnamed “bank customer” — who has been identified in court documents as Murdaugh — plundered various conservatorships under Laffitte’s control over the years. Laffitte’s criminal actions began around 2011 and continued up until the fall of last year, according to the July indictment and a superceding indictment issued in August.

The charges carry a maximum 30 years in prison.

Laffitte’s bank is the Palmetto State Bank in Hampton, from where he was fired in January.

It is rare in federal court that a trial is scheduled so soon after an indictment. Normally it takes months, if not more than a year for a case to come to trial or even arrive at a guilty plea and sentence.

But Laffitte’s lawyer, Bart Daniel, has said he and his client want a speedy trial because they are sure they can prove Laffitte is innocent.

Their defense is that Laffitte was taken advantage of by Murdaugh, a childhood friend and longtime valued customer of Palmetto State Bank, who always appeared to be on the up and up.

The charges against Laffitte detail how he and Murdaugh carried out financial thefts, using Laffitte’s position in a federally-insured financial institution to steal millions of dollars. The bank was at the center of their money-making schemes, indictments assert.

With the stolen money, Murdaugh and Laffitte sent money to relatives and their own checking accounts and paid off loans and bills, the indictment said.

Murdaugh is facing numerous fraud charges alleging he stole more than $8 million from clients, associates, law firm and fellow lawyers. He also faces murder charges in the June 2021 killings of his wife Maggie and son Paul at their rural Colleton County estate.

Laffitte, 51, and Murdaugh, 54, are two privileged sons of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, well-to-do men whose status and wealth derived in part from their ancestors. The two men have known each other since childhood and grew up on the same street.

Murdaugh’s great-grandfather founded the prominent Murdaugh law firm, known statewide for its ability to win huge verdicts and get large settlements for clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases.

Laffitte’s family bought Palmetto State Bank in 1955, and Laffitte started work for them in 1997, rising from teller to CEO.

Besides Daniel, attorney Matt Austin is representing Laffitte. Assistant U.S. attorneys Emily Limehouse and Winston Holiday are prosecuting the case. The FBI has investigated.

This story was originally published September 12, 2022 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Ex-SC banker Russell Laffitte given Nov. 8 trial date on federal fraud charges."