Federal prosecutors had this blunt answer to Alex Murdaugh's request to seize state assets
A recent court filing by confessed lawyer-turned-fraudster Alex Murdaugh seeking to pit the South Carolina legal system against the federal government appears to be coming up short.
Murdaugh, convicted of murder in March and facing more than 100 S.C. State Grand Jury charges, pleaded guilty to similar federal charges on Sept. 22.
But almost immediately after a federal court judge accepted his plea in U.S. District Court in Charleston, Murdaugh's attorneys filed a Sept. 25 motion asking the federal government to seize his assets from the state's civil court, which currently controls them.
On Oct. 4, federal prosecutors responded, indicating that have no intention to go to battle with South Carolina over Murdaugh's contested assets.
Federal prosecutors respond to Murdaugh's motion; judge to decide
In one of the most complex and remarkable white collar crime sprees in S.C. history, Murdaugh stands accused of stealing anywhere from $8.5 million to $10 million from family, friends and law clients.
In the wake of a hundred-plus financial and drug charges involving multiple victims, as well a dozen state and federal lawsuits that include a recently settled 2019 wrongful death suit in the boating death of Mallory Beach, Murdaugh's assets were frozen and seized by order of a S.C. civil court judge, then liquidated and placed into a fund for the victims and plaintiffs.
Murdaugh's recent motion beseeched the federal courts to seize those assets so that the state would not "waste" them, but federal prosecutors had a blunt answer to that request this week, asking a federal judge to deny Murdaugh's motion.
"While the Government does intend to seek a forfeiture money judgment totaling more than $10,000,000 at or before Murdaugh’s sentencing, the Government does not intend to seize the assets currently held in the state court Receivership at this time," wrote the U.S. Attorney General's Office. "And even if it were inclined to do so, neither the United States nor this Court can exercise jurisdiction over assets currently under the jurisdiction of the state court..."
The response adds that the federal government is not required to take any action regarding the funds in state court, and that "Murdaugh cannot force the Government to seize any assets, particularly assets over which he has either relinquished or been divested of control."
The final decision on the matter remains in the hands of U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel, who has yet to rule on the matter as of Friday afternoon.
The state court recently denied a motion for Murdaugh to use a portion of those assets for his ongoing criminal defense legal fees, so his latest motion could be interpreted as a legal maneuver that could allow his attorneys, Richard Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, another shot at requesting funds — but this time from the federal court.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Feds had this blunt answer to Murdaugh's request to seize state assets
