U.S. Department of Justice: Federal Grand Jury Charges Southern Poverty Law Center for Wire Fraud, False Statements, and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering
The Department of Justice yesterday announced an indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization devoted to racial justice:
"Between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC secretly funneled more than $3 million in donated funds to individuals who were associated with various violent extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and National Socialist Party of America
A Grand Jury in Montgomery, Alabama, today returned an indictment charging the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division filed two forfeiture actions to recover alleged proceeds of the organization’s fraud scheme. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated this case with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).
`The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,' said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. `Using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen cannot go unchecked. This Department of Justice will hold the SPLC and every other fraudulent organization operating with the same deceptive playbook accountable. No entity is above the law.'
`The SPLC allegedly engaged in a massive fraud operation to deceive their donors, enrich themselves, and hide their deceptive operations from the public,' said FBI Director Kash Patel. `They lied to their donors, vowing to dismantle violent extremist groups, and actually turned around and paid the leaders of these very extremist groups - even utilizing the funds to have these groups facilitate the commission of state and federal crimes. That is illegal – and this is an ongoing investigation against all individuals involved.'" Click the link above for the rest of the press release.
CBS News reports on the indictment here.
As reported by Politico, "The indictment was handed down by a federal grand jury in Alabama, where the organization is based. The SPLC faces 11 counts including wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. . . . The organization has previously criticized the Trump administration and has argued that Cabinet members have used their power to `roll back civil rights, deepen racial injustice, and rig the system against us.'"
