State grand jury indicts Alex Murdaugh on 2 more counts

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - A South Carolina State Grand Jury issued a second tax evasion indictment against disbarred Lowcountry attorney Alex Murdaugh.

The grand jury indicted Murdaugh on two additional counts of willful attempt to evade or defeat a tax, Attorney General’s Office spokesman Robert Kittle said.

The indictment, handed down in Colleton County, alleges tax evasion for tax years 2020 and 2021. Prosecutors allege that for those two years, Murdaugh failed to report $2.1 million of income earned through illegal acts, thereby causing state taxable income to be underreported to the State of South Carolina in the amount of $132.572.

Murdaugh was previously indicted in December for tax evasion for tax years 2011 through 2019. In that indictment, which was handed down in Hampton County, the State Grand Jury alleged Murdaugh failed to report a total of nearly $7 million in income earned through illegal acts, thereby underreporting taxable income in the amount of $486,819.

In total, the two indictments allege $9,067,706 of unreported income and thus state tax evaded in the amount of $619,391, Kittle said.

Each count is punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000 plus prosecution costs upon conviction.

Altogether, through 20 indictments, containing 101 charges, Murdaugh has been indicted for schemes to defraud victims of nearly $8.8 million and the state of South Carolina of $619,391, Kittle said.

Murdaugh was convicted of the 2021 shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, in March, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.