Bland Richter announces the filing of a new action highlighting Bank of America
Bland Richter announces the filing of a new action this morning that highlights the role of Bank of America in the Satterfield saga and which chronicles the manner in which Alex Murdaugh was able to partner with Bank of America to launder his stolen money. Appropriately, Bank of America now sits at the defense table with Alex Murdaugh to defend its establishment of the fake “FORGE” accounts that became the vehicle Murdaughused to launder millions and millions of stolen dollars.
The Satterfields entrust this dispute to 12 fair minded jurors. They will bring their God-given common sense to this dispute and determine whether Bank of America acted appropriately under the circumstances. No one individual is smarter than a jury to determine whether something wasn’t right with Alex Murdaugh’s banking relationship with Bank of America. With their life experiences, 24 ears and 24 eyes they will see and hear everything at the trial and we are confident that they will come to the right and just result.
We all recognize the significance of adding Bank of America to this action. They are a banking behemoth as they are the largest bank in the United States and one of the largest in the world. A true David and Goliath battle lies ahead. But the two young men, their aunt and two uncles are the five smooth stones that the references. God will be the slingshot.
This is not only a case about the Satterfields, but a case for all of the other victims of Alex Murdaugh whose money was wrongfully taken and deposited in Bank of America only to be transferred for purposes yet unknown. Without Bank of America this could not have happened for so long and hurt so many people. The public has been instrumental in the investigation and prosecution of these claims to date. Just as with the prior claims that have resolved, we are confident that members of the public have key information about the facts and circumstances of these claims and we urge them to come forward with their knowledge.
Had Bank of America followed their own guidelines and acted reasonable under the circumstances, Alex Murdaugh could never have accomplished his scheme over so many years. Below is the introductory paragraph from the Amended Complaint we filed this morning. Thank you. Eric Bland and Ronald L. Richter, Jr.
INTRODUCTION
As detailed herein, Bank of America, N.A. (“BOA”) acted as Alex Murdaugh’s (“Murdaugh”) BANK OF FRAUD. Specifically, BOA aided and abetted Murdaugh’s financial crimes and money laundering. By flexing their own rules and ignoring banking customs, BOA helped Murdaugh establish his fake Forge accounts, which Murdaugh funded with stolen money from the Plaintiffs, as well as other victims and/or PMPED clients. Once he was in possession of his ill-gotten gain, Murdaugh engaged in other suspicious banking conduct with BOA should have identified. For example, from one of Murdaugh’s fake BOA accounts, he issued 17 cashier’s checks to Charles E. Smith (a/k/a Cousin Eddie) totaling $164,748.76. In addition, Murdaugh transferred huge sums of stolen money from his fake Forge accounts to a personal checking account which Murdaugh also established at BOA. From one such account, Murdaugh separately issued 254 personal checks to Cousin Eddie totaling $1,825,560.95.
BOA was the last clear chance to stop Murdaugh’s criminal activities; instead of acting as a good corporate citizen, BOA chose to cash in on his crimes. To be clear, BOA made significant fees from Murdaugh’s accounts, presumably loaned money based on his stolen deposits and collected interest on the same. But what is truly unbelievable is that even after Murdaugh’s fraud and theft was exposed, BOA failed to terminate Murdaugh as a customer.
Through this Amended Complaint, Plaintiffs seek to hold BOA accountable for its deceptive business practices and its conspiracy with Murdaugh. Murdaugh did not act alone. BOA is the bank of a money launderer. BOA is a bank of fraud. They are nothing more than a high-tech laundromat.