DOJ charges former Southern Poverty Law Center CFO with fraud

Former SPLC Financial Executive Faces Fraud Allegations

Tyunews.com – Heidi Beirich, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s ex-chief financial officer, was taken into custody Wednesday morning in California. A newly unsealed superseding indictment brings multiple charges against her, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The legal documents allege she managed fraudulent payments to informants embedded within hate organizations.

According to court filings, Beirich maintained a romantic connection with one of these informants while also sharing a bank account with them. Between 2015 and 2021, roughly $140,000 from SPLC donors passed through that joint account, the indictment states.

Broader Context of the Case

Beirich previously headed the SPLC’s section dedicated to tracking hate groups. She joins several other individuals who have overseen payments to people infiltrating white supremacist organizations on behalf of the center. In April, the SPLC itself became an organization charged with bank fraud and money laundering offenses stemming from its informant payment practices.

Beirich represents the first individual to face criminal charges directly connected to this matter. The center has pushed back against claims that it deceived donors, maintaining that payments to informants aligned with its mission to uncover and expose the inner workings of white supremacist and other hate organizations.

Specific Allegations Detail

The superseding indictment highlights two particular informants. One individual for whom Beirich approved payments held the position of imperial wizard within the Ku Klux Klan. Separately, Beirich had a romantic relationship with another person who received more than $1 million from the SPLC since 2007.

The center had previously attempted to dismiss the case, arguing it was the victim of vindictive prosecution by the Trump administration. A federal judge rejected that argument last week.

Attorney General Todd Blanche stated at an unrelated Wednesday news conference that the SPLC indictment demonstrates “exactly what we said would happen in a case like this, which is that our investigators and the U.S. attorneys and the agents working the case will keep on working it even after the initial indictment.”

ABC News could not immediately contact Beirich’s attorney on Wednesday afternoon. CNN originally broke the news regarding Wednesday’s charges.

Heidi Beirich served as Intelligence Project Director at the Southern Poverty Law Center. This photograph was taken during the Investigation Discovery portion of the Discovery Communications Winter TCA Event 2018 at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, California, on January 12, 2018. Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images.