A former SPLC official was arrested Wednesday after a federal grand jury added her as a defendant in the widening criminal case against the Montgomery-based organization.
A second superseding indictment, returned Tuesday and unsealed Wednesday, charges former Southern Poverty Law Center official Heidi L. Beirich, 59, of Palm Springs, California, alongside the SPLC.
Beirich faces new charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank. She was also added as a defendant to a previously charged count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
The new indictment additionally charges the SPLC with another count of concealment money laundering.
Federal prosecutors allege that between 2007 and 2023, more than $4 million in donated funds were secretly funneled to individuals associated with various violent extremist groups through a scheme involving fictitious entities and financial accounts designed to conceal the source, ownership and control of the money.
Beirich was served with an arrest warrant Wednesday morning in the Central District of California and was expected to make an initial federal court appearance later in the day.
As Yellowhammer News previously reported, Beirich was identified as the former SPLC official described as “Employee-2” in the earlier indictment.
Prosecutors alleged that approximately $1.2 million was paid to an informant who infiltrated the neo-Nazi National Alliance and was allegedly romantically involved with Beirich. Roughly $140,000 in SPLC donor funds allegedly reached joint bank accounts shared by the two.
“The indictment unsealed today reflects the continued work of federal investigators and prosecutors in examining this alleged scheme,” U.S. Attorney Thomas Govan said. “We look forward to presenting the evidence in court and allowing the judicial process to determine the facts and the defendants’ responsibility for the alleged crimes.”
The SPLC was originally charged in April with wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
An indictment contains allegations only. Beirich and the SPLC are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
