Ex-banker Laffitte claims injury from Alex Murdaugh’s ‘unprecedented media firestorm’
READ MORE
Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
Expand All
Former Hampton banker Russell Laffitte, an alleged accomplice of disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh, says tough bond restrictions were unfairly put on him because he is the victim of an “unprecedented media firestorm” surrounding Murdaugh.
“Mr. Laffitte finds himself in the center of an unprecedented media firestorm. Amidst the explosion of coverage, several individuals have found themselves the subject of intense scrutiny for no other reason than their connection with one man — Alex Murdaugh. The same can be said for Mr. Laffitte,” said a motion filed by Laffitte’s lawyers late Tuesday afternoon.
The lawyers, Bart Daniel and Matt Austin, are scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Charleston before Magistrate Judge Mary Gordon Baker to ask for a loosening of Laffitte’s current bond restrictions, which they deem “excessive.”
Laffitte, 51, who faces multiple counts of fraud in alleged schemes involving the misuse of bank conservatorships, is free on $500,000 bond but must wear an ankle monitor and stay confined to his home, except for certain limited circumstances. Laffitte was required to post $25,000 to remain out of jail pending a trial at an as-yet unscheduled date.
Laffitte’s lawyers’ motion says the controversies affecting their client include recent “credible allegations by counsel for Alex Murdaugh that (state) grand jury information has been leaked to media outlets by members of the State prosecution team.”
Murdaugh’s lawyers, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, alleged on Monday in a court filing that people in State Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office have deliberately leaked confidential derogatory information about Murdaugh to reporters.
Wilson’s office has denied the allegations.
“The unprecedented media focus on this case is impairing Mr. Laffitte’s ability to receive a fair trial and have resulted in the excessive conditions of bail imposed upon him,” Laffitte’s lawyers wrote.
Laffitte is “a presumptively innocent defendant charged with non-violent crimes, no criminal history, and who has voluntarily appeared numerous times” and he should not be confined to his house and forced to wear two ankle monitors, his lawyers wrote.
A federal grand jury indicted Laffitte in July, alleging he and Murdaugh used their access to a federally-insured financial institution to steal millions of dollars.
As the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank in Hampton, Laffitte — who has known Murdaugh since childhood — helped Murdaugh gain access to substantial amounts of cash in the “care, custody and control” of the bank, the federal indictment charges.
A state grand jury indictment made public in early May charged Laffitte with various illegal schemes to defraud victims of some $1.8 million in money under his stewardship at Palmetto State Bank.
Laffitte was fired by his bank in early January. Both state and federal grand jury indictments allege that Laffitte worked in concert with Murdaugh to carry out thefts.
Since last November, Murdaugh, 54, has been charged with more than $8 million in various financial thefts from his former law firm, former clients, friends, associates and even from his own brother, Randy Murdaugh.
In July, Murdaugh was charged with the June 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at the family 1,700-acre estate. He has asserted his innocence in that case.
Murdaugh, a member of a four-generation high-profile and well-to-do Lowcountry legal family, was fired from his law firm for stealing money last September. He has since been disbarred.
Federal prosecutors Emily Limehouse and Winston Holliday are handling the case for the government.
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Ex-banker Laffitte claims injury from Alex Murdaugh’s ‘unprecedented media firestorm’."
_fitted.png)
