Murdaugh was ordered to pay $14.8 million in insurance fraud scheme he plotted against late housekeeper's family
Preview: Fall of the House of Murdaugh: From Egg to Z
A preview of Martha MacCallum’s exclusive interview with two jurors from the Alex Murdaugh trial, commonly known as "Egg Juror" and "Juror Z." Coming Soon to Fox Nation
A South Carolina federal judge has ordered disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh and his accomplice to pay millions to an insurance company after they conspired to steal about $4 million in insurance funds from his housekeeper's family following her death.
The judge ordered Murdaugh to pay $14.8 million and Murdaugh's longtime friend and fellow attorney, Cory Fleming, to pay nearly $3.8 million in the federal civil case against Fleming.
Fleming stood trial for two days in Charleston before U.S. District Judge Richard Mark Gergel handed down the settlement order.
"Fleming’s unfair and deceptive acts played a critical role in Murdaugh’s ability to ultimately steal over $4 million in settlement funds," Gergel wrote in part in the settlement order filed on Jan. 9.
WATCH ‘THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF MURDAUGH’ ON FOX NATION
Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to two consecutive double life sentences for the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, his wife and son. (South Carolina Department of Corrections)
Murdaugh's housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, apparently tripped and fell on the front steps at the Murdaughs' home on their South Carolina hunting estate, Moselle, and died later in a hospital.
Murdaugh convinced her sons to sue his insurance company, Nautilus, which awarded them more than $4 million – most of which Murdaugh stole, according to court documents.
Murdaugh acknowledged "that he ‘invented a story about his dogs causing the death of Gloria Satterfield to create his own liability to the Satterfield beneficiaries’ to produce a payment from his insurance carriers which he intended to, and did in fact, steal," Gergel wrote in his Jan. 2 order.
ALEX MURDAUGH SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS FOR FINANCIAL CRIMES AFTER POLYGRAPH CONTROVERSY
Former lawyer Cory Fleming in state court on Aug. 23, 2023. (The State)
Gergel noted that the "entry of judgment against Defendant Murdaugh does not impact the claims Plaintiff has against the remaining Defendants, Cory Fleming and Moss & Kuhn, P.A."
Charging documents filed against Fleming allege that the attorney worked with Murdaugh to deposit forged settlement checks into a fraudulent bank account apparently named after an insurance advisory company.
ALEX MURDAUGH'S LAWYERS WANT TO MAKE PUBLIC STATEMENTS ABOUT STOLEN MONEY. FBI SAYS MURDAUGH LIED
The Murdaugh family said their housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, fell on the front porch steps at their South Carolina hunting estate in 2018. She died in the hospital. (Eric Bland)
Fleming argued that he does not owe anything to Murdaugh's former insurance company, Nautilus, in the federal civil suit.
"The Court finds that Defendant Fleming committed a ‘willful or knowing violation’ of [the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act] and hereby trebles Plaintiff’s damages, resulting in an award of $3,750,000.00."
ALEX MURDAUGH COURT CLERK BECKY HILL RESIGNS AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF JURY TAMPERING
Michael Tony Satterfield, son of Gloria Satterfield, points out Alex Murdaugh during Murdaugh’s double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, Feb. 3, 2023. (Sam Wolfe/The State, Pool)
The federal jury also awarded a total of $1.25 million in damages to Nautilus, Gergel wrote in a Jan. 9 filing.
"Plaintiff established at trial that Defendant Cory Fleming committed multiple acts of unfair and deceptive practices in his handling as an attorney of the wrongful death and survival claims of the Gloria Satterfield Estate," Gergel wrote. "These include multiple unethical communications, as the plaintiff’s attorney, with a potential defendant in the case, Richard Alexander Murdaugh, despite the fact Murdaugh was represented by counsel."
SOUTH CAROLINA JUDGE DENIES ALEX MURDAUGH'S REQUEST FOR A NEW MURDER TRIAL
Alex Murdaugh cries while listening to testimony during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Feb. 27, 2023. (Jeff Blake/The State/Pool)
"Further, Fleming made false representations to opposing counsel and the excess carrier regarding alleged communications with one of the beneficiaries of the Satterfield Estate and with a potential issuer of a structured settlement," Gergel continued.
GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB
The $4 million Murdaugh stole from the Satterfield family is part of the 100 financial crimes charges filed against Murdaugh involving millions in stolen funds from his former law firm clients.
A photo of the Murdaugh family taken days before Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were shot to death. From left, Buster, Paul, Maggie and Alex Murdaugh. (Defense exhibit)
Murdaugh had previously been ordered to serve 40 years for his financial crimes in federal court and 27 years for his financial crimes in state court.
Those sentences came on top of his life sentence for killing his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, in 2021.
A Colleton County jury found the disgraced lawyer guilty of shooting Maggie and Paul near dog kennels on the family's hunting estate in June of that year. Prosecutors say he was trying to create a distraction from his mounting financial crimes, which were beginning to come to light around that time.
Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to
