Indictment alleges SPLC funneled $3M to extremist groups, advocacy group urges restitution

A media firestorm sparked April 21 following reports that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was indicted for allegedly funding the same groups it claims to combat, leading to scrutiny of the indictment and questions about the organization’s operations.

The SPLC was indicted on 11 counts: six for wire fraud, four for false statements to banks, and one for conspiracy to conceal money laundering. According to the indictment, the wire fraud counts stem from the claim that “the SPLC explicitly sought donations under the auspices that donor money would be used to help ‘dismantle’ violent extremist groups.”

The indictment says donors were not informed their money could be used to pay “high-level leaders” of those same “violent extremist groups” or even used in the commission of state and federal crimes. The wire fraud counts are tied to six wire transactions that occurred on April 25, 2023, and transmitted nearly $14,000 from SPLC accounts to accounts controlled by informants.

According to the indictment, however, the SPLC “secretly funnelled” more than $3 million of its funds to informants associated with extremist groups between 2014 and 2023. The informants were part of a network the SPLC has been cultivating and maintaining since the 1980s after its offices were firebombed, according to the Daily Signal’s Tyler O’Neil. O’Neil has been researching the SPLC for years and released a book in 2020 that argued that the organization makes money by funding the exact groups it purports to fight.

According to O’Neil, the SPLC has defended itself by saying that it needed to fund informants for protection purposes after being attacked by violent extremists. However, those attacks occurred decades ago, prompting O’Neil to question why the informant program was maintained up to the 2020s.

The indictment lists several informants under pseudonyms, including one who planned the 2017 “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 — an event that turned violent and has been used by Democrats to criticize President Donald Trump. The informant reportedly “made racist postings under the supervision of the SPLC,” helped attendees get to the event, and received more than $270,000 between 2015 and 2023 for those services.

Other informants, according to the indictment, include the Imperial Wizard of the United Klans of America, someone connected with the National Alliance, and leaders in organizations such as the National Socialist Movement, a group affiliated with the Aryan Nations, the National Socialist Party of America, American Front, and the Ku Klux Klan.

The SPLC is also charged with making false statements to federally insured banks in order to open and operate several accounts under the name of fake businesses. Five accounts were opened for nonexistent entities and used to transfer funds to informants so the money was not coming directly from SPLC accounts. SPLC’s president and CEO at the time and the organization’s board chair later admitted, in writing,to one of the banks that the accounts had been opened “for the benefit” of the SPLC and operated under its authority.

The final count alleges the SPLC conspired to conceal money laundering by conducting elaborate and misleading financial transactions to cover up fraudulently obtained donations that were being paid into informants’ accounts.

According to the indictment, the SPLC will have to forfeit to the U.S. any property it obtained from its illegal operations.

“The SPLC will have every opportunity to defend itself in court, but these charges are particularly damning,” O’Neil posted on X. “The SPLC claims it was only funding informants, not white nationalist groups, but the DOJ makes a good case the SPLC was propping up the ‘hate’ it claims to fight.”

SPLC is also known for designating conservative or religious organizations as “hate groups.” Family Research Council (FRC), a conservative think tank and advocacy organization, said a gunman attacked its office more than 10 years ago due to SPLC’s narrative. In a statement on the indictment, President Tony Perkins said the violence FRC experienced indicates that SPLC’s actions have serious implications.

“We’ve talked with the FBI to help them understand how these designations have real-world consequences. That’s why this moment matters. Accountability should not stop with individual convictions,” Perkins said. “If wrongdoing is proven, justice should include restitution to those harmed. With over $750 million in their endowment which includes offshore accounts, the SPLC should be held responsible not only for what was done, but for the damage left behind.”