A superseding federal indictment charges the Southern Poverty Law Center with fraud and money laundering offenses, alleging the organization used donor money and fictitious entities to pay extremist-group members who had sought help leaving.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A superseding federal indictment alleges the Southern Poverty Law Center paid people connected to the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations and neo-Nazi groups to remain inside extremist movements after some of them had approached the organization seeking help getting out.
The indictment, handed down by a grand jury in Alabama, charges the SPLC with 11 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to Just the News.
Federal prosecutors allege the SPLC secretly moved donor funds through shell companies and fictitious business names while publicly presenting itself as a watchdog against hate groups and a resource for people seeking to leave extremist organizations. The case builds on an earlier indictment filed in April, when prosecutors accused the organization of secretly funneling more than $3 million from 2014 to 2023 to people associated with extremist groups, including the Aryan Nations, the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Party of America. The superseding indictment alleges the total paid was about $4.1 million.
The indictment adds new detail to allegations that the SPLC was operating what critics have described as a “double game”: publicly denouncing extremist groups while allegedly paying figures inside those groups to remain active and provide information.
The Justice Department has alleged that the SPLC used a network of shell entities with names such as “Center Investigative Agency” and “Fox Photography” to hide payments to people tied to extremist organizations, according to a Washington Examiner report. Prosecutors said many of the companies were fictitious, were not incorporated and performed no actual services.
The SPLC has said the payments were part of a legitimate informant program used to monitor threats. Federal investigators, however, allege the funds helped keep extremist activity visible enough to support the organization’s fundraising and public mission.
The organization has grown into a major nonprofit with substantial assets. A Capital Research Center report described the SPLC as wealthier than many colleges and universities, and ProPublica nonprofit records show the organization had nearly $790 million in net assets in its consolidated financial statements as of late 2024.
“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an April 21 statement announcing the original indictment. “Using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen cannot go unchecked.”
The superseding indictment focuses in part on an unnamed individual identified as F-30, whom prosecutors said “led the National Socialist Party of America, was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and was the leader of a faction of the Aryan Nations that had chapters in approximately 17 states.”
According to the superseding indictment, F-30 approached the SPLC unsolicited in 2010 and said he wanted to leave “the white nationalist movement.” Prosecutors allege the SPLC did not help him exit, but instead offered him about $2,500 per month plus expenses “to continue to lead and maintain the violent extremism organization” he had said he wanted to leave.
The indictment alleges the SPLC set up F-30 with a pay card through a fictitious company called “Rare Books,” which was used to transfer more than $70,000 “in donors’ money” to the individual’s account.
“F-30 used the donors’ money to, among other things, travel to extremist rallies, host extremist rallies, donate money to leaders of other extremist organizations, recruit new members into his extremist organization, publish racist and extremist material for the purpose of recruiting new members, both inside and outside of prison, and create racist paraphernalia to sell at rallies to raise more money for his extremist organization,” the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors also claim the SPLC softened language on its webpage about F-30 at the individual’s request while donor money was being used to fund his activities. The indictment alleges the change made it easier for him to recruit new members.
The superseding indictment also describes two other unnamed individuals, identified as F-31 and F-32, who were members of the Ku Klux Klan. Prosecutors said both feared for their safety and reached out to the SPLC around 2010 after F-32 saw media coverage about the organization helping someone leave an extremist group, including coverage that said the SPLC paid for tattoo removals.
According to prosecutors, an SPLC employee invited the pair to Montgomery, Alabama, for a meeting. Despite their request for help leaving the movement, the indictment alleges the SPLC offered them a $1,200 monthly salary plus expenses to remain involved.
After the payments began, prosecutors said F-31 and F-32 agreed to stay in the group. The payments were allegedly routed through “Rare Books Warehouse.”
The indictment alleges F-31 rose from a regular Klan member to a leadership role and used donor money to recruit new members. Prosecutors said F-32 used SPLC funds to buy materials for Klan robes and hoods, and that both attended cross-burning events for which they were reimbursed by the SPLC.
The SPLC has denied wrongdoing and said it will fight the charges.
After the original indictment, interim CEO and President Bryan Fair said the organization would “vigorously defend” itself against allegations it called false, according to WUSF.
“Taking on violent hate and extremist groups is among the most dangerous work there is, and we believe it is also among the most important work we do,” Fair said. “The actions by the DOJ will not shake our resolve to fight for justice and ensure the promise of the Civil Rights Movement becomes a reality for all.”
Fair is scheduled to testify Friday before the House Judiciary Committee, days after the Alabama grand jury returned the superseding indictment.
SPLC attorney Abbe Lowell also rejected the revised charges after the new indictment, telling CBS News that prosecutors had not changed the organization’s position.
“This apparent superseding indictment attempts to shore up the flaws in the initial charges, but it changes nothing,” Lowell said. “The SPLC did not lie to its donors, it did not mislead banks it did business with, and its informant program prevented violence and saved lives.”
The case now places the SPLC’s informant program, donor disclosures and financial practices under federal criminal scrutiny, with prosecutors alleging the organization used hidden payments to keep extremists active while the group maintains the program was lawful and intended to monitor threats.
Original article
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