Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh and his associate, Cory Fleming, have been ordered by a South Carolina federal judge to pay millions in restitution to an insurance company. The ruling stems from a scheme where the pair defrauded the family of Murdaugh's deceased housekeeper out of roughly $4 million in insurance funds.

Judge Richard Mark Gergel mandated Murdaugh to pay $14.8 million and Fleming, also an attorney, nearly $3.8 million. The decision followed a two-day trial for Fleming in Charleston. The judge's order, filed January 9th, highlighted Fleming's "unfair and deceptive acts" as crucial to Murdaugh's successful theft of the settlement money.

The case revolves around the death of housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, who died following a fall at Murdaugh's Moselle hunting estate. Murdaugh subsequently persuaded Satterfield's sons to sue his insurance provider, Nautilus. The resulting settlement of over $4 million was largely embezzled by Murdaugh, according to court records.

Judge Gergel's order specifies that the judgment against Murdaugh doesn't affect the ongoing claims against Fleming and the law firm Moss & Kuhn, P.A. Allegations against Fleming include collaborating with Murdaugh to deposit forged settlement checks into a fraudulent bank account disguised as belonging to an insurance advisory firm. Fleming, however, maintains he owes nothing to Nautilus.

The jury awarded Nautilus $1.25 million in damages, citing Fleming's "multiple acts of unfair and deceptive practices." These included unethical communications with Murdaugh, despite Murdaugh having legal representation, and misrepresentations to opposing counsel regarding communication with a Satterfield beneficiary and a potential structured settlement issuer.

This $4 million theft forms part of over 100 financial crime charges against Murdaugh, involving millions stolen from former legal clients. Murdaugh is already serving a 40-year federal sentence and a 27-year state sentence for these financial crimes, in addition to a life sentence for the 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.

Prosecutors argue that the murders were an attempt to divert attention from his escalating financial misdeeds.