Yessir! I’m still trying to figure out what this deadbeat psychopath did with all that money?! What kind of moron can blow through several millions of inheritance and a mid six-figure salary, so he stole millions from his friends?! Such an exceptional piece of 💩
I love how she sits down and immediately puts the tissues on the floor as if to say 'I'm not gonna need those' ... solid lady and she is obviously pretty disgusted with Alex and ready to tell it like it is.
@@LindaNecessary yup, the WHOLE firm. And there's NO shortage of examples and circumstances to support this. Even his bff Chris Wilson who acted like he did such a noble thing by fronting his own money, nearly a MILLION dollars, into a client's trust account just bc Alec asked him to. Pfft he knew EXACTLY what he was doing and he knew it was for unethical and nefarious reasons, to put it extremely lightly. Notice thruout all his "I have an obligation and a duty to fulfill...." he left out the part where he openly expected Alec's firm to "pony up" the money, as this so-called great CFO testified to under oath. And as for her tiny show with the tissue box, that's all that was, a show. A performance. There was nothing genuine or moralistic about it.
@@nuckinfuts7610 If you're talking about the money being held in escrow by Chris that Alex had taken out under false pretenses and was to repay, the total amount was around $780,000+. Alex repaid only about $600,000. Chris had to add $180,000 of his own money for the account to be reconciled. Alex owed Chris the $180,000, which I don't think Chris ever got. I don't truly think Chris or Jeanne are corrupt - they are just not suspicious enough and 'trusted' Alex as he was a lawyer who had taken an oath as they all do. The whole firm and connections were a bit 'loosey goosey' and believed Alex's stories as he was a top dog. I actually credit his paralegal Annette - she is the one who was suspicious, kept excellent files and finally brought the evidence and suspicions forth to Jeanne, who took over from there. If Alex hadn't left that electronically cashed check that he told Annette didn't exist, in his office, where it fell off a stack of papers she picked up for something else, his scam may have gone on for many more years.
Now that is one qualified woman to be Chief Financial Officer of a multimillion dollar law office. The trauma of the discovery of grand theft by someone she trusted and had known for decades must have been devastating. Her testimony was very clear and concise. Excellent! May she be blessed with peace knowing her honesty and ethics were not compromised.
She been knew, she got some too and she didn't feel one bit of anxiety telling on his ass. As a matter of fact, she loved it and was glad her day finally came. She was adding up thefts all the way up to the murders which were an inconvenience to her mic drop..All her expressions say "YOU THIEF" 😜.' I GOT YOUR ASS' Just look at her when she say, "Alex stole it! "😊.
Blessed my but, she gon be toasted for her testimony and patting herself on the back cuz she got him. She said she knew it all the time just had to prove it to the firm ☺️. She wanted him soo bad not even two murders was gon stop her.
If, after he had deposited it electronically, he had only destroyed that check he said 'didn't exist' that the paralegal said 'fluttered to the floor' when she was getting another document from his office, he may have gotten away with it for yet another decade.
Annette Griswold was so scared about losing her job. She was and I hope still is an employee for the newly formed law firm. She was and is still a wonderful paralegal. I really hope she went to get her law license. The fear the Murdaugh family instilled in her is atrocious. Annette you are are a smart woman. Nobody should be scared by their good ole boys employers. My prayers are with you Annette.
I agree, she is lucky he did not take a life insurance policy out on her, a 5 million policy on his housekeeper was very suspicious and her own boys have not gotten a dime from her death. I think he just wanted to live a lifestyle that he could not afford. His father made the Murdaugh name, not Alec unfortunately.
He can’t kill them all. I want to know why all the financial business is being brought up since this entire financial firm are con artists, the entire lot of them, after hearing how much they are bleeding these innocent victims of out of these cases.
@@sondracarey923 it was his grandfather that made the Murdaugh name along with other family before the father ever got involved. I’m trying to figure out why it’s called Parker Parker & D with no Murdaugh in it if this firm was infact the brain trust of the Grandfather, perhaps he was a Parker or the D in the name. This is a very confusing trial as it jumps back and forth between the murders to work finances.
This witness is just pure integrity, she was very brave to challenge this man. She must have been relieved but mentally exhausted. Bravo to you dear lady.🙏💚
She’s just as guilty! She covered the fake account for 10 year’s, not 1 - 2 year’s, 10 year’s and never brought it up until AnnNett, his paralegal questioned it.
She FAILED at her job (s). Had she done a year-end audit, like every other CFO, she'd have discovered this fraud YEARS ago, and averted this mess. Or maybe she was in on it? You have to be pretty stupid to miss millions of dollars. She should be fired for dereliction of duty....
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to ! Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! ! AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY. I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! ! IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP ! 🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND !!
She seems like she really didn't like this man at all. People that want to seem fair, or if they like a person would never use strong language about them. She openly called him a bullshitter.
@@carltonbanks5470 She said she'd known him since she was 16. She also knew the family. She is the CFO and COO of the firm and takes her job seriously. Think about the time she had to spend unraveling this mess and how much it cost the firm. I'm sure she was/is absolutely disgusted as anyone would be. Yeah, I bet she grew to despise him and who could blame her?
@@_KaiRos-11I think they are all disappointed the boat wreck interrupted there tax evasion and hiding money. All these people are close and even kin. Including the brother in law at the bank. 😂
Too bad she wasn't this relentless in performing her job duties, as had she done so, none of this fraud would have taken place, and she'd not be testifying, in the first place. Either she's complicit, or just asleep at the wheel. Either way, she should be fired for dereliction of duties. She's so angry at Alex because he exposed her ineptitude...
@@bigsnacks6485 lololol. Tell me I'm wrong. She's so angry at Alex because he exposed her ineptitude. It is part of her job description for BOTH jobs to audit and reconcile the law firm's books. If it was me, I'd have had a third party audit every year end, for proper checks and balances. The clients deserve better than this incompetence. This is nearly dereliction of duty. She should be the one reimbursing the firm, and employed elsewhere.
Yes I agree! It was a team effort, but Mr Waters did an extremely good job at presenting the evidence and questioning witnesses! Very prepared and organized!
As a 24 yr old college student who is grinding for every penny… I cannot begin to fathom what he was spending all this money on.. This nice lady is one seriously experienced CFO who absolutely killed it on the stand. I really feel for her and all the partners. Big respect to them for doing the right thing. What an ugly mess this guy has made.. RIP M&P
Drugs (especially opiates) eat up money like you wouldn't and couldn't believe unless you'd been through it or seen it intimately, up close on a financial level
Experienced? Her primary job is reconciling the books, and year after year after year, she missed Alex's embezzlement. In fact, she didn't even catch it, the paralegal did. She's incompetent, ridiculously inept, should be fired, and have to pay for her mistakes. LITERALLY.
This case has consumed me. The more I re-watch, the more I’m amazed by the prosecution and how well he did laying out the information in bits and pieces so that the jurors could slowly consume each piece. He didn’t flood them with information so they had to try and drink it from a fire hydrant.
A lot of people who were critical of the prosecution didn’t realize their technique. They talked about how the prosecutors would slowly have witnesses repeat the same information, etc. Very important in making clear points that they tidily wrapped up at the end of the case.
Me too for a number of reasons I still don’t understand why 2 guns, I don’t think he alone committed the crimes. I can’t see how a jury convicted in 3 hours with 7 weeks of testimony. I have so many questions so I am watching it all over again with you. The guy is disgusting just for stealing the amounts of money he did, but something in me doesn’t think he shot M&P and I don’t understand why I feel this way. He clearly had the motive the dogs weren’t barking he was down at the kennels when the crimes occurred I don’t understand why I don’t see it.
There is something very odd ... weird .. as to where ALL this money went. Pills were a minor part NOT major. Hard drugs like dealing cocaine? He wasn’t a Coke head and he wasn’t buying high priced items per say At this point I believe it’s most likely gambling. I believe he thought his dad would protect him and this wouldn’t be investigated like it was
But then his dad died. He definitely killed them. The “boat case” was going to ruin his whole world and knew he had to eliminate Paul. Maybe Maggie was collateral damage. Maybe she was meant to be part of his alibi and then she was where she shouldn’t be. Maybe she was supposed to drive back to the house and didn’t. All I know is he lied about being there AT the time of the murders so he either did it or knew someone else was doing it. Period
Hey, jeannie, if you ever read this, I was so impressed by you and the other women in the office. The warm feelings you have for each other and your professionalism we're both striking. I hope you can recover from this and be a happy group together again.
You can tell she was happy to finally nail his ass. She had the sense that something was wrong all along but couldn’t prove it at first. I love when she turns directly to the jury & says “ Because Alex stole it”
For nearly a decade, Alex was diverting an enormous amount of funds away from the firm that should've been on the books, accounted for. Why was this? I find it astonishing that this CPA missed it all this time. She should be fired.
125k salary is actually low for a lawyer in recent 4 years. He was 15 or 20 years experience. 125k is entry level. These lawyers go into the year full knowing they will actually be a shareholder, and get full year payout, in December.
It’s actually a pretty low base salary. This is incentive to take on cases that will have big pay off. He was likely living way above his means. I’m curious what his actual take home bonuses were the last 20 years or so.
@@cathycoryell2351 It might not be a huge salary for an associate, but these lawyers were partners, sharing the profits, which was their real income. The salary of $125K was pocket change.
Unbelievable!!! It appears that lawyers and law firms have far too much control over how the money flows in these cases, makes me wonder how many other thousands of lawyers across the nation are doing this exact same slight of hand to steal from the people they represent. I truly hope this case will inspire a change in how these cases and fees are handled.
That’s absolutely true. I know someone that sued their employer and the lawyer that represented them, took more money than they did. All lawyers are truly liars and thieves.
Thinking the same… why on earth would these employees also have access to the systems to make entries on the books, but also doesn’t this mean that Alec’s team also illegally processed these??
Yes it's across the country. I was a victim of lawsuit fraud with the fraud being done by my law firm. They failed to pay me upon my settling an auto accident until one year after my case was settled. This was in Michigan metro Detroit suburb of Southfield. I finally got paid and then apparently it happened again with a different client of that firm. This firm was just cheating clients like crazy. My case was for $200,000 almost 20 years ago.
@@patriciawalder7799 “intelligent” you must be watching a different video than me but this lady was a pushover letting the lawyers walk all over her she is the opposite of intelligent she’s actually weak and backed down from every fight she supposedly brought up
@@MrSantanasWorld She most def. didn't do her job. 10 years and she didn't catch on, she is incompetent. All of these people singing her praises would be stolen BLIND if they had a business and she was in charge. LOL LMAO at the ignorance of the masses, no wonder so many are just getting by, they lack common sense and education in finances.
Jeanne probably doesn't realize it, but when she describes Alex's personality, work ethics and ability to manipulate others, she's describing the characteristics of a sociopath. I couldn't understand the why of offing his wife and son until the paralegal testified... it was for no other reason than to elicit other's sympathy and take the focus off his theft of the firm's money. Plus, he might have thought there were life insurance payouts in the wings. Easy decision for a person with no conscience or moral compass.
I do not know how life insurance policy’s payout and who it is reported to but I do not believe there wasn’t any life insurance policies. Just my opinion.
Yes! I also think she wasn’t happy in their marriage or she would have been staying with him without being told. Paul was going to prison for negligent homicide (soon). Alex was about to be completely humiliated in finance, business, marriage, legacy…. everything. So, he pulled out a Hail Mary hoping to make Paul a victim, hide his failed marriage, garner sympathy and postpone the inevitable financial and business wreck and just maybe get enough money in inheritance and selling things to “fix” it.
@@tammyslade1375 yes, he being such a arrogant, "I'm so important,"would hate having His Workers giving evidence against him!, yes she has a " crackingly good " look toward him😅
Me too!🤣I re-watch different ones who took the stand during this trial because Creighton Waters brilliantly paved the way from start to finish to find AM guilty of double murder and I did not catch what she said the first time I saw this and how, I do not know. I just had to go back to that part two times to make sure I indeed heard her correctly and DAMN if she didn’t say that😂then came to comments for JUST that and glad your’s was only 3 weeks ago. Makes me feel better for being back to this trial again LOL. EDIT: Just an afterthought. It would’ve been like being at church and trying not to laugh out loud🤣But…it then only takes that one person who can no longer contain themselves to finally lose it, then the others will too. So, it probably would’ve only taken one juror to lose it for the rest of them to do so. I would’ve been booted off the jury as the culprit who first laughed out loud and had to be dismissed…for good😂
She is matter of fact and articulate but considering how high she was in the operations of the firm for as many years as she was, she should have caught this years ago.
My thoughts exactly during her whole testimony. For a woman that seems to be a good read of people and never fails to dot her i's and cross her t's she must look back and feel terrible for not catching on sooner but, she deserves a tremendous amount of credit for bringing this information to light. If it were me, I would take great pride in that fact. My heart break's for all the "so many" people that, that monster had effected their lives so negatively, even if they are a bunch of ten cent millionaire's.
He has absolutely NO right to glare at this witness, or ANY witnesses, or the prosecuting staff!!! His living son seems to mirror his father’s smugness!
Stop, he can do whatever he wants. You don’t determine what someone can/can’t should/shouldn’t do. You don’t know them & would not want someone speaking of you or telling you what you can or can’t do.
As a retired legal assistant that spent most of my career in personal injury I am just so disgusted. The majority of these plaintiffs would be suffering life altering, painful injuries, some would be families that have lost someone they loved. He stole from his own brother! Cameras in the Courtroom are a vital part of his punishment as well as a message to other dishonest lawyers of what can happen when you are caught. Its money and there is always going to be a paper trail. My heart goes out to Jeanne Seckinger and all of the highly skilled support staff that should have been able trust their employer.
Oh, the death of Hakeem Pinckney, (the fellow who Alex won a large lawsuit for), and who was a quadriplegic due to a catastrophic accident, and apparently someone "pulled the plug" on his oxygen at the skilled nursing facility the day after the settlement arrived - something like that. That one struck me terribly. I learned that from reading so many comments on this thread. Brenna
@@brennajlawrence1911 His family would still be entitled to the settlement - at least here in Canada. So there might be several suspects. It looks like Alex stole settlement money that his plaintiffs were not aware of yet or at all.
@@brennajlawrence1911 I don't think there is any money. Alex's addiction cost a lot of money - so its all gone. If there are any assets left after they settle the boat lawsuit the law firm will go after them. Buster is broke.
@@dannsherstone1037 I think there is still property - from what I watched on UA-cam testimony videos - and posts on this thread. I read somewhere that Alex and Maggie owned a 1,700 acre property in South Carolina. IF that is still owned by someone in the family - or the trust - that will bring LOTS of money.
I think part of her disdain is embarrassment. All this happened under her watch as CPA and CFO of this company and she had no controls in place to catch this sort of thing. Millions of dollars being stolen for years on her watch completely undetected. At one point she even started to admit fault and then caught herself. “I can’t believe I let…. That this happened.” She’s clearly very smart and well versed in the subject matter but was operating on trust rather than putting the right systems in place. A lot of people assume she knew something was going on, but I think it’s possible she didn’t know, and now she’s humiliated.
I agree with most of your statement. Although she has a CPA and was a CFO she actually proved that she wasn’t that smart at all! Millions of dollars stolen repeatedly over many many many years under your compliance does not make a smart person! She has no idea how to put a system in place to block that type of internal theft. The word compliance officer is nowhere in here articulate vocabulary!😂 She went on a cloche and dagger hunt after it was brought to her attention. Alex would still be stealing if it weren’t for Annette. 😮
I don’t blame her. His antics would have put her in prison if anyone else caught his fraud. She’s not throwing him under the bus; she’s outing him for making it look like she was helping him steal money.
Of course she will, she covered for him for 10 years. Every thing went through her and there’s no way she didn’t catch any other of these thefts over the years. She just didn’t say anything about it til he got sloppy.
@@toyamwarr there’s absolutely no way she didn’t know over that period of time and never questioned it prior to the paralegal actually getting involved. She’s trying to hide behind the cloak & trying to throw everything at him. She was directly involved as she handled everyone of them & never caught it. Still doesn’t make him a murderer, he’s a thief, and they haven’t proven that he started taking money years before so why kill them now??? Not buying it. This trial is actually showing why he didn’t do it himself & leading towards someone he stole from. That fake account she was balancing for years never seemed strange to her, not until the paralegal brought it to her and she had no choice but to make it known to save herself.
Wow. He’s just an all-round garbage human being. Does anybody have the slightest doubt about the validity of this woman’s testimony? What a great witness! I hope the rest of the law firm is able to survive both the financial devastation & the hit to their reputations for being associated with this despicable man. It sounds as though they’ve made every effort to reimburse the clients he stole from, while also having been stolen from as well. That’s an enormous amount of money. Where is it?
i have to wonder where the money went. he could not spend that much money on drugs or he would be dead. he was stealing & likely helping banker on the side. if he goes to jail he will be miserable eneery waking moment. not sure if sc has the death penalty
If you don’t think she was also involved as well as her banker brother n law, you been drinking way too much koolaid. She hid the account for 10 year’s, not 1 or 2 years, she knew it for 10 year’s and did nothing but act like it was fine.
I like her a lot. Not only does she give clear, concise, direct and to the point answers but you can also tell she's not affraid of anyone, especially Alex Murdaugh. She's angry at what he did and seems very happy to call a thief a thief to his face. What a great employee!
@@donnagordon5454 ...You know, I didn't even think about it like that but you're 100% right! Their Controller missed a decade of bogus transactions right under her nose? As a business owner thats a terrifying thought.
@@JLarsonRN1 Understandably so. She probably caught a ton of shiz for missing all that money. That's her number one job - to understand *EXACTLY where their money is and how it's moving around.
This judge is the best I've ever seen I mean he is truly a significant law abiding man🙏 and if we had more judges like this honourable guy justice would be served more 🙏
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to ! Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! ! AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY. I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! ! IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP ! 🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND !!
@@mauracassidy1762 I’ve thought on this a great deal over the past few days and what I think is a spreadsheet needs to be made of each,lawyer and each case they have. Periodically the cases need to be verified if they have settled. I do not know if this is being done by the Lara,Eagan’s or done at all. I still refuse to place blame on Jeanne for any theft or irregularities in her job. Alec is a career thief and liar. He also has the gift of BS ing.
Too bad she wasn't this "sharp" in performing her job duties, as had she done so, none of this fraud would have taken place, and she'd not be testifying, in the first place. Either she's complicit, or just asleep at the wheel. Either way, she should be fired for dereliction of duties. She's so angry at Alex because he exposed her ineptitude...
As an accountant myself, this whole case is appaling, Accounts is never based on trust but proper internal controls, IFRS, GAAP, accounting procedures and policies, this law firm messed up big time, I admire the CFO for her honest testimony but fraud will happen because of greed, opportunity and no morals
She should have called a meeting much earlier with the Partners, not after the whole office burned down. My sister bis a CPA and that wouldn't have flown by her by trust. 2+2 equals 4. She should of been more aggressive.
The first time he stole the money intended from his brother, she should have done a full review of his accounts. Should have watched him extra carefully. She knew he was dishonest. But she still "trusted" him for years. Total negligence as a CPA.
A person who stole from these families as a result of permanent disability and loss of life, struggling families, friends who you claim to care about and love. You're capable of anything in my opinion. And he wants people to believe he wouldn't kill his wife and child? This man is pure evil.
He stole fee money that was payable to his own brother (also a lawyer at that firm). Alex has no conscience whatsoever. He stole from injured & vunerable folks in his community. He murdered his family. He's a scumbag.
It would be interesting to know what misdeeds Alex did as a young man that were covered up by his family. You don't suddenly plan and kill your own family, you head down that road with many moral compromises prior to that event. I would imagine the whole family is at the very least tapped danced around corruption since they had such a powerful name for so long in a small world.
How embarrassing for Jeannie, to be the chief financial officer of such a lucrative law firm and not notice 5 million in stolen funds until concerns were raised by a paralegal who worked there. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but still. 😳
Agree the extra bit of anger and disdain on her part is definitely embarrassment. A lot of people think she knew what was going on. I think it’s possible she didn’t know what was going on and she was humiliated for not having done her job and had controls in place to catch this sort of thing.
People live beyond their means, even millionaires. Some owe $5,000, others $500 million. It's all relevant in the salary you make, and many want to have an image that they can't afford.
One of the most absurd things to me was Maggie’s sister calling them “comfortable but not incredibly rich.” Super rich people love to say that. “We’re JUST comfortable.” But when the cops went through your trash they found a Gucci receipt in excess of $10k. Comfortable my ass! Land may be cheap in SC but all the toys and goodies and extras were not. What a joke.
@@UptownLexi Exactly what I thought. But the sister who called them "comfortable but not lavish" also has a home in the FL Keys herself. So, everything is relevant. To these ppl I guess that is just "comfortable."
Respect for this incredible woman. She projected knowledge, honesty, integrity, no nonsense attitude. She knew her info inside-out and backwards and was straightforward with all this information piece by piece building all the evidence one client at a time. I personally found her testimony the most interesting and easiest to follow so far.
But failed in her responsibilities in preventing fraud and or theft. As a CPA she has the responsibility to ensure that the most up to date security protocals are being followed to prevent fraud and or theft. She failed in that. Instead she went along with the good ole boy method of accounting.
Astonishing that he stole so much for so long from his firm (10+ years!)....I hope other firms take notice of this case and review/tighten their financial controls accordingly!
Their fees go up and the next clients have to pay...That's how political economics work....why we all are paying more and more and more....criminal minds
Jeannie should have mentioned that without the honesty and hard work of a loyal smart paralegal she and the rest of the firm may have never found out what Murdaugh was doing with the firm's client funds. She was the one who finally confronted Murdaugh but without the evidence given to her by s very smart paralegal he would still be stealing money. Give credit where credit is deserved.
So glad to hear you say this. I’ve been thinking the same thing. That particular paralegal has been the witness that has absolutely impressed me the most. She was outstanding.
I think she was just doing her job. Others in the law firm must really trust her judgement so, they were willing to hear what she had to say. That law firm really does respect her expertise.
i think of the exposee the NEW YORK TIMES DID ON D.TRUMP AND HIS FATHER,,INTO THEIR FINANCES,,,HOW ON EARTH DID THE IRS NOT SEE THE SHENNANAGANS? FOR SO MANY YEARS? ,AND I THINK ITS BECAUSE DT WAS SYNONOMOUS WITH NEW YORK, CITY , AND VICE VERSA...,AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN ITS ALL COMING OUT.
Were they never audited? I agree she's a great witness, but this went on for years and cost millions. Obviously, there wasn't enough oversight by her or her staff.
Absolutely. She was a CPA. She knew better than to just trust. She never designed internal controls. She knew he was dishonest when he stole his brothers money. She knew he needed extra watching. But she turned a blind eye. (I world also guess that she didn't have much support from the partners though.)
Ms.Seckinger is a true high professional, that most of the time hold up firms, companies, corporations and even governments out of their own muck. Honesty as her core value to seek out accountability within her firm, for her firm and her employers. She did and is doing her under paid (i bet) JOB (S)!!!! Thank you for standing your ground and speaking the facts. You deserve a raise without a doubt .🎖️
Did the thought ever occur to you that it wasn't real honest for her to table the issue of Alex hiding assets? Did the thought ever occur to you that it was her job "for years" to make sure money wasn't stolen from clients and she failed miserably. I mean if I was her boss , I'd be pretty pissed at her incompetence.
@Fedeleness interesting comment. She knew AM for years, she must have known or suspected his immoral ethics. Look at the photos prior, bloated and overweight, his look jacked up, I can believe people knew but with the wealth and position he relied on, The signs were all there, and sadly Maggie was tong to pay due to guilty knowledge. HER housekeeper of 20 yrs ..think about it, Maggie knew the shop was stinking and sinking. Offshore money is a huge story all around and reeks, of drugs, sex; money laundering and death. , a cesspool of filth.
@Amber Moon She's not an old lady! If he likes older woman. who are you to say she's ugly or old? The point is she mid age like I am. She is attractive as well as smart!!
As an accountant, I feel bad because I can imagine the feeling of realizing the incredible fraud going on. But this happened because she wasn't doing her job. The job of an accountant is to trust no one. She signed off on Financials. She signed off on their internal controls. She had nothing in place to prevent this. And that was her job. She screwed up. Yes. He's the thief. But she was the line of defense again this.
i can't believe it either...there's more to this mess than we think.......when a cfo/ceo/cpa doesn't pick up on millions of missing dollars over a ten year period, give me a break.....what is the rest of the story.....
Exactly! Perhaps they chose to keep an eye closed to these misplacing of funds, and Alex took it too far? If they were doing their jobs diligently, no way Alex would have gotten away with this for so long!
Even when I watch this again now, the scope of his stealing from his clients is mind blowing. It really told people just that how “cold blooded” he had to be to do all of this. And then say that the day his wife and son were murdered was just an ordinary day. He is a very dangerous man and I am glad he will never walk among free society again. And how his son can’t see the truth is beyond me. Or maybe he does….
The way he stole from the satterfields was so disgusting. To look around and find people to take advantage of then get 4 mill and not give them anything. When he ask the state trooper to bring the check to him then cashes it for self. I’m a recovering addict. That does not excuse this behavior.
@@jamiekloer6534I heard where the defense said, this testimony wasn't to speak to Alex's character- just to motive. But come on!! This speaks to his character & to motive. Alex was as cold hearted & sociopathic as a person can be. He stole from clients who were injured, or harmed. He stole $ that was to go to his own brother Randy! No conscience. Not when it came to stealing, or when it came to murder. He should never ve released from prison! He IS disgusting. And addiction doesn't excuse what he did. You nailed it!!
Same. I've saw a lil amount I've spent on drugs and it's mind blowing in itself I couldn't imagine having money like that and having a problem.... @@jamiekloer6534
This lady is great. I learned a long time ago in business that narcissists take advantage of the trust they build with you..... it's necessary for their cover to hide in plain sight. It's so important in all organisations to have processes and audit those processes, (different from the accounting audit)... doesn't matter how friendly you all are with each other.... it should be an objective relationship and depersonalised.
It's too bad that Chris Wilson never picked up the phone and called someone - anyone - at the Murdauch law firm - letting at least one of the partners (or Jeanne, the CFO) know that Alex had set up this 'sketchy' account that he still owed money to and that Chris himself had covered from his own funds.
She’s pissed off at him and called him out photographic memory 😅 Also I had an aha!! Moment when she said he never helped with the loans to the firm at the beginning of every year,what a selfish person
She was an excellent witness. My one question is, as the company book keeper, how in the world did she miss this for so many years? The loss should have shown the very first year of filing taxes or the company's own financial audit.
She did explain it , she always saw the flags but he was trusted and she had every reason to believe what she was being told,’until, she didn’t, and then she began asking and looking
She's far more than a bookkeeper, she's a CPA and a CFO. Not to slight bookkeeper (I'm one) , but she has far more expertise than what being a certified bookkeeper requires. He created a business and DBA and the bank account by which to steal and named it very closely to the real settlement structure company. He named his business DBA Forge. The real company the firm used was Forge Consulting. You have to be an obsessed eagle eye to catch that every day. I work in Corporate Finance and our company name has three words, but we get plenty of checks where they only put the first of our three names on our checks. I'd say 40 percent come in like that. So if someone at one of those businesses paying us decided to create a fake company, and bank account, they could easily orchestrate a theft that it would take a while to catch internally. It would look like invoices were being paid properly, but the employee would be cutting checks and depositing them in their fraudulent account. Many financial crimes happen just like that and it is classic. That is what happened here, but it's even worse because there was an abuse of power. He, as an attorney, was telling clients that their funds would take longer for them to get, and they believed him, naturally. That's why they keep harping on his ability to read and manipulate ppl with each witness.
Just want to say as someone who was a victim of financial fraud by my ex-husband, I totally understood where she was coming from (and also Annette Griswold when she testified). You don't want to believe someone that you trust would do something so awful so you look for any alternate theory for what could have happened and you take them at their word that it's a mistake or someone else's fault. But when you take the blinders off and REALLY look - then you want to KNOW IT ALL (like when she did the big print out of all the accounts) and things are never the same again.
No. Her job was to reconcile that account to the penny, timely. Timely would be prior to the financial report printings, at a minimum. Quarterly financials are pretty standard. She only mentioned a reconciliation at the end of the calendar year. Yet she never detected any missing funds for the first 10 years that thefts were happening. An account consisting of only a few high dollar client cases, might have been set to reconcile at the conclusion of each specific client case and prior to the final disbursements.
And she was supposed to be kind to him for all he had to suffer for killing his own family! Hang in there, Jeanne, the defense are very aware that you have spoken truth to power. 2:54:22 2:54:28
TO THE LAW FIRM: SOMEONE WAS NOT WATCHING THE BOOKS FOR YEARS!!! How can thousands for each case get ignored??? Did anyone see deposits to the real Forge Consulting? Did anybody say: Hey we had a lot of cases here, but no deposits? Wow! No-one ever checked to prove that client got their money????? This is unbelievable that no one checked the books!!!
Amen!!! Not to mention the fact that she testified under oath that he told her he was hiding assets and did nothing about it. She is being hailed as a hero when it was his own paralegal that raise concerns. She sucks as a CFO
I had a sleazy boss who was the President of our company. He was always trying to do weird and unsavory things and I made it known I do everything by the book. So glad I had high ethical standards and stood up to him.
Me too. I worked in a large regional hospital for 45 yrs. This happened 32 years ago. I was mixing large IVs. We added insulin to the bags bc the base fluids had lots of dextrose. Rarely did we add heparin to a bag and it was always written as 1000 Units. This order wrote for 100 u. For heparin ....our standard order for these bags was always 500 U. I mistook the units of heparin as insulin. The order, written by a PharmD, wasn't supposed to have any insulin. And I added 100 U. The next day the guy who wrote the order called and asked me,... You did put heparin In. Miss Jones TPN and not insulin...right? I knew immediately that it was bad. And answered honestly.. I asked him if he made an incident report. He said he wasn't making one bc TG the RN was checking patient at MN and noticed her deep sleep was actually a coma. Her blood sugar didn't even register bc it was so low. She pushed a syringe of dextrose in and saved her. I was so upset. We double checked those fluids and the RN had checked the bag against the order and she, my checker and me all read it as heparin. I was 3 weeks from due date for my 3rd kid and was so shaken up I began having labor pains right then and had our baby only 8 hours later. I've never forgotten that mistake. He did make a report bc I told him if he didn't, I was. He also apologized later and told me he was wrong. At that time we didn't record near misses in our errors but the protocol was changed at our director's request after seeing how close we came to killing this woman. We also separated drugs with like units of measure on written orders. Some real good came out of it. We began reporting to patients near misses too. Btw this guy was only coworker in 45 yrs to suggest not doing right. i found most medical staff are very ethical and honest. When I trained ppl the first thing I said was, When in doubt we throw it out no matter the expense of the drug and you won't get in trouble. Trouble comes when you lie. I got cancer 2 yrs ago and continued working until retirement age. When covid hit I lived in too much fear bc I'd had the largest lung lobe removed and chemo etc. My immune system was shot and I knew if I got covid it would likely kill me. I was lucky to have a career I loved but unlike some old ppl I knew young ppl are ready to take over the world. It's all in how you're raised. My dad used to tell us we were being grounded bc we tried to lie our way out of trouble. Said he couldn't abide a liar or a thief. It's never left me. I see I wrote a mini novel 🤣. Sorry. I've been living alone with 2 cats for awhile and no matter how I communicate it's gonna be long !!!
Good! Because they have no honor. They will tempt you then throw you under the bus if it allows them to keep their position and look like the good guy smh!
Part of my professional life was as an internal auditor for a large publicly held company. The company had stringent internal controls. Despite all of these controls employees always found new methods to steal. In this case, internal controls were not as stringent since this firm the attorneys trusted one another. The crooked banker made things much easier for Alex. I suspect this firm and other large law firms have learned a lot from this and implemented strict internal controls. In a business this size it is fairly simple to require two signatures, one being the CFO, on all checks or disbursement journals.
How responsible would she be if she were your CEO?? For 10 years (at least) she has been oblivious to how the payouts were made to satisfy the clients in the entire firm! It makes you wonder how many of these partners agreed to compensate her for looking the other way. If she still has her job then the whole firm is crooked.
What??!!! She starts out saying she & the Firm were fine & dandy accepting his excuse of funneling his income into his wife’s account in order to avoid consequences & accept accountability to Mallory’s family.
@@keepnreal7835 and??? What about the 90 other clients who never saw their money?? When one of the firms clients wins a 4.5M settlement.. she had no idea whether they received it?? That’s complete and total incompetence! That was her freaking job.
He himself said that the deaths of his son Paul & his wife Maggie would make the Mallory Beach wrongful death case go away... (no perpetrator to prosecute and no Dad to sue, as "Dad" would be a victim now) ....or was that the prosecuting lawyer for the girl's family...
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to ! Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! ! AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY. I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! ! IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP ! 🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND . !!
How was he able to steal millions for decades without the accountant knowing. She must of not been doing her job since 1999 when she joined. The law firm is just trying to save face now. I hope no one goes to that law firm for business anymore. There’s no way if she was doing her job that he would have been able to steal money for that many years.
That's exactly what i said. Some of those checks were 750,000 each. How did they not notice that quicker. Like immediately. Is this the only law firm down there. Damm.
what ????? that is their job to discredit her testimony as much as possible - his fraud is the motive for murdering his wife and son - so this lady would have a lot of very tangible information about his motive.
Glad to hear her testimony. This entire time I've been wondering why clients weren't knocking down the doors wondering where their settlement had gone.... in some cases ENTIRE settlements... but I see now sometimes he kicked some money back saying to take it out of his "fees" to help the poor clients... making him look like a nice guy to give up some of his part of the settlements. Those fees are supposed to go into a pot and split by all the partners at the end of the year so he ripped off his "brothers" as well. I've only been involved once in a case where there was a settlement. Our attorney received 30%... and it was all laid out item by item. I just trusted it was right and glad to finally be done with it and to have gotten anything. I'm pretty sure my attorney was honest about it all... but it does make me see how many may have just trusted that so much of their settlement was swallowed up by attorney fees (some take a lot more than 30% depending on the case); expenses, etc.
I was wondering that too! if they had won the case they know they’re getting or should be getting a settlement . I wonder what lies he told them when asked where their settlement went. Those are probably the ones who he said he took money out of his fees for (just to shut them up). Both pathetic and disgusting. Now I’m curious as to how many other lawyers are pulling this scheme.
@Vince Is Here Long ago, I worked in a municipal law firm... and I know not all attorneys are evil nor greedy... but yes, it made me wonder the same thing. It can be expensive to work such cases... and I believe attorneys SHOULD get fair compensation. However, I think there should be a federal law capping the percentage. 30% seems fair, even on contingency cases. At most, 40%, and that should include costs. I think that is where some of these attorneys really overbill their clients as they can stick in anything from copying documents to travel and meal costs. I think in one of Murdaugh's cases, he even billed the client for a private jet & limousine services. SMH...
@@TheBioExplorer let me get this straight - you are saying you think the government ( made up primarily of lawyers) is going to pass a law restricting how much money that lawyers can make ? do you have an agent ? - you might want to give netflix a call - you must do stand up comedy
@PJ Predhomme Didn't say it would be easy, but... They already have limited their percentages with certain types of cases. For example, I believe they are limited in some cases regarding social security recipients to 30%... might be 35%. Besides... Even if the percentage is limited, they can still make tons when taking larger cases.
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to ! Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! ! AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY. I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! ! IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP ! 🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW - PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND !!
1 of my favorite witnesses...such a professional woman, she deserves accolades, and to have the best job out there. A true example of an honest , dedicated and loyal employee.
This woman only seemed to notice these thefts when she realized she and the firm were being ripped off. Until then, while clients were being ripped off, she didn’t notice a thing. She’s a very good CPA, right? And let’s not forget who her brother-in-law is.
BINGO…. I have been looking at the comments to see if anyone was thinking along the same lines as myself…..it’s obvious she can’t stand this man… and she appears to be enjoying sitting on that stand saying Alex stole the money (I know it’s true) but this is a classic of case of the rich get richer while the poor gets poorer again as a CFO, COO, and a CPA it never dawned on her that this man has worked just about every day besides holidays , he settled/won all of these huge cases, but the firm hasn’t received anything that they’re supposed to receive from this attorney let me investigate, ask questions, alert another partner send a smoke signal or something and the fact the Palmetto Bank board member/shareholder is her brother-in-law who helped Alex steal all this money is so bizarre her husband is probably a good old boy as well
It's incredible how easily fooled everyone is in this comment section. How little it takes to sway them when so much is right in front of them. Just shows you why Alec got away with so much for so long. Or why this whole firm, hell this whole COUNTY got away with so much for so long. A lot of it was thru intimidation and fear no doubt, but a lot of it was thru sheer gullibility as well.
@@nuckinfuts7610 they were in some small way benefitting. None of them had to worry about the police or getting bank loans, now do they? They were sitting pretty,. My guess is they still are. I say hung jury... these jurists have to go back to living in the community and the police, the bank and other people might not be happy with them. Hey, one of their relatives may die mysteriously, right?
@@nbgilbert I couldn't agree more with you again. It's incomprehensible to think they didn't know or participate in a single thing. I don't necessarily think that they are all AS corrupt as Alec, but I in no way think that they were completely in the dark about everything. And I certainly don't think that they are free of personal unethical dealings, as if they don't have plenty of those under their own belts. There are levels to all this corruption, Alec's of course being seemingly the worst. And the amount of corruption that came directly out of this county goes back many decades. Many. The county is still wildly corrupt, likely more so than ever. And PMPED was the TOP legal firm of that county. To think any one of those partners or their longtime top legal accountants knew absolutely nothing, and/or have completely clean hands is beyond absurd. They ALL have hurt and deceived people who trusted them. They all took advantage of legalities that they shouldn't have. They all did tremendously greedy, immoral, unethical, and illegal things for self serving purposes. And they carried out the vast majority of it knowing that it came at the expense of innocent people. Every one of those lawyers are dirty in some way. So to think that their top CFO knew nothing about it during allllll those years is, again, absurd. As for another good point you made, I really hope nobody else has to lose their life just to benefit one of these grimey people now that the stakes keep getting higher.
This woman looks over at him with such disgust almost every time she says the amount he stole with Alex’s signature. 👏 this is Greedy on whole other level.
I’m lost here. I understand why he asked for a 2nd check, but when I’ve forgotten to cash a check and ask for a new one, the original check is voided. And this is a law firm! 🧐
@@dudemorris7769 It was on the firm. It was PPMPD (Pimped) but the M was for Murdaugh. The company took his name out of the firms name for inexplicable reasons...
The hurt, disappointment, anger, and disgust is visible on her face every time she looks over at him. Finally confronting someone that stole millions of dollars from the company you both worked for in front of millions of viewers is bad enough, confronting that same person who then murdered their own child and wife to cover that up is something I can't even imagine. She handled her testimony like an absolute trooper. Stoic, precise, immovable, unshakeable and heroic. She is an attorney's dream witness. Kudos to Jeanne Seckinger for doing something so difficult, so well!
The average person can be arrested and face jail time for a bounced check for $25, yet this character can steal millions and not even be charged. These amounts are so staggering they are mind boggling. Spread out over all the partners in the law firm as well as Chris Wilson , the liability was $200,000 or more per person . It 😅 is unthinkable to me that not one of the good old boys in the brotherhood are willing to prosecute. This man belongs behind bars so he can’t hurt anymore of the “little people” he feels he has the God given right to exploit. Even the judge is complicit in this farce by ruling this can only be used to prove motive not as a character reference, or to prove character.
I thought that a few times, the crap you can get away with when you’re wealthy compared to us regular people, is absolutely bananas, not to mention extremely sickening, his victims will never ever get paid, I have a feeling he stashed all that money away, if so, I hope to God they find it, but Buster will probably have it
He will be tried for stealing client's money after this trial is over. He's facing close to 100 charges, so if he gets off for the murders, he'll certainly serve time for the massive amount he embezzled. POS of a human being!
@@buggiebuild1~ Did you not listen to her testimony at all? The prosecutor went down the list and asked her about each case, and she testified as to the amount he stole in each case. She then stated that the partners of the firm reached into their own pockets and paid the clients the monies that that sociopath embezzled from them, the total of which is over TEN MILLION DOLLARS! Yep, out of their own pockets! He's a POS!
The devastation he caused is just mind boggling. If killing his family wasn't bad enough all that money he stole had to be paid back by the very attorneys who considered him a brother. There's no doubt in mind he killed them to take the light off of what was about to be revealed at the law firm. This witness is just burying him with her testimony..
1. Wouldn’t the clients expect to be getting annuity statements and call the lawyer if they never did? 2. Aren’t there monthly reports showing year to date totals of fees each lawyer had brought in? Did no one notice his fees were particularly low? 3. Didn’t the firm have a financial audit somewhere between 2011-2021 that would turn up irregularities? If you know anything about accounting principles, this is not passing the smell test.
If clients were not aware of the settlement then they would not have complained. Or maybe the settlement was 500,000 and he told them they got 200,000 and he siphoned off the balance.
Firm was pinching Pennie’s and outside auditor’s fees are as expensive as lawyer fees.The expense of an audit would have to be paid out of the partners bonuses.
15:13 A reminder that just because you go to the best trial law firm, you may still end up with a lawyer who is only working in his best interest and he will manipulate you to settle because he isn't a good trial attorney. There are lawyers who win cases, and there are lawyers who are focused on seeking settlements because he doesn't want to go to trial.
These people are too intertwined. This one went to school with this one, this one is related to this one. Everyone is connected on a personal level and that complicates things. I also don’t believe that NOBODY had a clue about the theft It was covered up until it couldn’t be covered anymore.
Just like the grift that goes back to the original Murdaugh. They were all lawbreakers but powerful. Buster 2 got kicked out of the same law school his GGF went to for cheating. He expected it to be ignored but when the boat incident happened the school decided they didn't need the Murdaughs any more and gave him the boot.
Hampton county is a small area. By default, everybody knows everybody because few people ever actually leave. The thief went unnoticed because they knew each other for decades and trusted that everyone they lived and worked around were honest people. It’s the reason crimes in these small towns completely rattle those living there: they live in a false reality that they’re safe because they know their neighbors.
Every time someone says a woman’s place is in the home I think of women like My mom… Notorious RBG… certainly this amazing lady *and I want to say:* 🗣️ A woman’s place is wherever her feet take her❣️ To say women can’t be focused and AMAZING at home & work… makes me wonder how many women the person who perpetuated that myth *actually knows* ❓❗️ How many wars has the United States been in with *a man* at the helm❓ … 🅰️. *ALL OF THEM* _I hope_ we elect a woman who knows _her place is in a HOUSE_ *…The WHITE HOUSE❣️*
Oh wow this lady is sooo lucky to be alive, she was stepping on his toes bad! The look that he and his son gives her while she is testifying is horrific.
I’m new to the case… He has a son who he let live❓ 😳 Were they like Don & Eric❓ *Or non politically speaking:* _Did he “get rid” of the FREDO❓ …Or keep the FREDO❓_
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to ! Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! ! AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY. I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! ! IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP ! 🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS, HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND !!
Yes!! 2 times she brought this to her attention. A simple peak at her bank statement would show her the fake Forge account and checks enforced by Murdaugh. But she didn't.
@@icannotpretend5834 Apparently when this woman gave evidence at trial of the (now sacked and found guilty of multiple crimes) head of "family owned" Palmetto bank....she said things that made it look as though she and several other members of PMPED were involved in the theft of client money. And could well end up charged soon also. Which is hardly surprising. They only got REALLY mad at Alex Murdaugh when they found out that he stole from THEM. He did three things with the money from the Forge account. 1. he paid the family credit card bills. 2. he wrote cheques to his family members 3. he wrote cheques to...HIS LAW FIRM PARTNERS. So they'd seen the account existed, with his home address on it. And his brother, the one in the law firm, was heavily involved in hiding Alex's assets. He claimed Alex owed him money, and Alex wrote cheques for tens of thousands of dollars to him. They all seem corrupt, except Ms Griswold.
@@belleslettres354 I thought she wasn't given enough credit. I rather wonder if the other partners were, in truth, NOT happy about what she did. It seemed to me they sat on what she found out for as long as they could, hoping it would go away. Especially Alex Murdaugh's brother - who quickly began grabbing assets from his brother's property and bank accounts and claiming them for himself. What a family.
This is the lawfirm's CFO/COO. She was great. Watch starting at 52 minutes for the date/time when she confronted Alec with regards to money he was steeling from the firm. It happened on June 7 2021. The same day as he murdered Maggie and Paul. This entire testimony is quite enlightening. I think her name is Jeannie???
Who's back in 2024 watching this trial?
Meee!
ME
Yessir! I’m still trying to figure out what this deadbeat psychopath did with all that money?! What kind of moron can blow through several millions of inheritance and a mid six-figure salary, so he stole millions from his friends?! Such an exceptional piece of 💩
I am, watching from London
🙋 meeee !
I love how she sits down and immediately puts the tissues on the floor as if to say 'I'm not gonna need those' ... solid lady and she is obviously pretty disgusted with Alex and ready to tell it like it is.
Like nasty
She was complicit, how do you miss this for 10 yrs? The whole firm is corrupt
@@LindaNecessary yup, the WHOLE firm. And there's NO shortage of examples and circumstances to support this. Even his bff Chris Wilson who acted like he did such a noble thing by fronting his own money, nearly a MILLION dollars, into a client's trust account just bc Alec asked him to. Pfft he knew EXACTLY what he was doing and he knew it was for unethical and nefarious reasons, to put it extremely lightly. Notice thruout all his "I have an obligation and a duty to fulfill...." he left out the part where he openly expected Alec's firm to "pony up" the money, as this so-called great CFO testified to under oath. And as for her tiny show with the tissue box, that's all that was, a show. A performance. There was nothing genuine or moralistic about it.
If they were all complicit, why self report to the disciplinary board?
@@nuckinfuts7610 If you're talking about the money being held in escrow by Chris that Alex had taken out under false pretenses and was to repay, the total amount was around $780,000+. Alex repaid only about $600,000. Chris had to add $180,000 of his own money for the account to be reconciled. Alex owed Chris the $180,000, which I don't think Chris ever got. I don't truly think Chris or Jeanne are corrupt - they are just not suspicious enough and 'trusted' Alex as he was a lawyer who had taken an oath as they all do. The whole firm and connections were a bit 'loosey goosey' and believed Alex's stories as he was a top dog. I actually credit his paralegal Annette - she is the one who was suspicious, kept excellent files and finally brought the evidence and suspicions forth to Jeanne, who took over from there. If Alex hadn't left that electronically cashed check that he told Annette didn't exist, in his office, where it fell off a stack of papers she picked up for something else, his scam may have gone on for many more years.
Now that is one qualified woman to be Chief Financial Officer of a multimillion dollar law office. The trauma of the discovery of grand theft by someone she trusted and had known for decades must have been devastating. Her testimony was very clear and concise. Excellent! May she be blessed with peace knowing her honesty and ethics were not compromised.
She been knew, she got some too and she didn't feel one bit of anxiety telling on his ass. As a matter of fact, she loved it and was glad her day finally came. She was adding up thefts all the way up to the murders which were an inconvenience to her mic drop..All her expressions say "YOU THIEF" 😜.' I GOT YOUR ASS' Just look at her when she say, "Alex stole it! "😊.
Blessed my but, she gon be toasted for her testimony and patting herself on the back cuz she got him.
She said she knew it all the time just had to prove it to the firm ☺️. She wanted him soo bad not even two murders was gon stop her.
If, after he had deposited it electronically, he had only destroyed that check he said 'didn't exist' that the paralegal said 'fluttered to the floor' when she was getting another document from his office, he may have gotten away with it for yet another decade.
She has been blessed, the pope sent her a text.
This is a nightmare
I've very glad the CFO and the paralegal did not accidentally fall down any steps.
It’s a wonder.
I was thinking the same thing lol
They probably would of had Alex not been worrying over the boat wreck
Probably a lot they haven't found yet. Will have to go back to his kindergarden days.
Annette Griswold was so scared about losing her job. She was and I hope still is an employee for the newly formed law firm. She was and is still a wonderful paralegal. I really hope she went to get her law license. The fear the Murdaugh family instilled in her is atrocious. Annette you are are a smart woman. Nobody should be scared by their good ole boys employers. My prayers are with you Annette.
This witness is lucky to be alive to tell the tale! Very credible. He destroyed SO many lives.
I agree, she is lucky he did not take a life insurance policy out on her, a 5 million policy on his housekeeper was very suspicious and her own boys have not gotten a dime from her death. I think he just wanted to live a lifestyle that he could not afford. His father made the Murdaugh name, not Alec unfortunately.
He can’t kill them all. I want to know why all the financial business is being brought up since this entire financial firm are con artists, the entire lot of them, after hearing how much they are bleeding these innocent victims of out of these cases.
@@sondracarey923 it was his grandfather that made the Murdaugh name along with other family before the father ever got involved. I’m trying to figure out why it’s called Parker Parker & D with no Murdaugh in it if this firm was infact the brain trust of the Grandfather, perhaps he was a Parker or the D in the name. This is a very confusing trial as it jumps back and forth between the murders to work finances.
@@sondracarey923 what Housekeeper, Miss B survived?
@@marshadavies8440 No she died after a fall at Alex Murdoch's house. This woman , the Head Accountant is who they were referring to
The other girl being scared about losing her job for catching him doing something shows the kind of power his family had.
❤exactly
Her name is Annette Griswold, Alex's paralegal
This witness is just pure integrity, she was very brave to challenge this man. She must have been relieved but mentally exhausted. Bravo to you dear lady.🙏💚
I ditto that. Thank you 🌹
She is lucky Alex didn't do away with her! 😁
She’s just as guilty! She covered the fake account for 10 year’s, not 1 - 2 year’s, 10 year’s and never brought it up until AnnNett, his paralegal questioned it.
She FAILED at her job (s). Had she done a year-end audit, like every other CFO, she'd have discovered this fraud YEARS ago, and averted this mess.
Or maybe she was in on it? You have to be pretty stupid to miss millions of dollars.
She should be fired for dereliction of duty....
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to !
Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! !
AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY.
I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! !
IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP !
🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND !!
It’s mind blowing how an entire large group of very smart lawyer took over 10 yrs to catch a thief
Trust betrayed. Most people don't believe others can be so evil 😈. That's Alec!
They thought he was paying them back. Its so easy to look the other way
I'm guessing he stole like 1 out of every ten cases.very slowly and most likely with others 🤔
"Under the table selling" happens everywhere.
Not the most astute cats, are they????
She is incredible. Clear, fair, not exaggerating, highly professional, believable and honest. Great witness.
YES, YES, YES!
She's so brave
Prosecution probably still wake up and bless her every morning.
She seems like she really didn't like this man at all. People that want to seem fair, or if they like a person would never use strong language about them. She openly called him a bullshitter.
@@carltonbanks5470 She said she'd known him since she was 16. She also knew the family. She is the CFO and COO of the firm and takes her job seriously. Think about the time she had to spend unraveling this mess and how much it cost the firm. I'm sure she was/is absolutely disgusted as anyone would be. Yeah, I bet she grew to despise him and who could blame her?
Ms. Jeanne was a very strong, forceful, and overall excellent witness! Bravo for having a sense of truth and integrity.
Or just scorned
@@tidefanman1 I think she’s just disgusted and all her earlier thoughts or ideas are being confirmed
No! AM’s malfeasance highlighted how bad she was at her job. Millions missing and she didn’t know? The CFO? Ten years?
@@_KaiRos-11I think they are all disappointed the boat wreck interrupted there tax evasion and hiding money. All these people are close and even kin. Including the brother in law at the bank. 😂
@@ellencleghorne5296 Exactly!
She is relentless in her testimony. Very clear and to the point!
Too bad she wasn't this relentless in performing her job duties, as had she done so, none of this fraud would have taken place, and she'd not be testifying, in the first place.
Either she's complicit, or just asleep at the wheel. Either way, she should be fired for dereliction of duties.
She's so angry at Alex because he exposed her ineptitude...
@@energeticsoulhealer888 LOL…Alex is that you??
@@bigsnacks6485 lololol. Tell me I'm wrong. She's so angry at Alex because he exposed her ineptitude. It is part of her job description for BOTH jobs to audit and reconcile the law firm's books. If it was me, I'd have had a third party audit every year end, for proper checks and balances. The clients deserve better than this incompetence.
This is nearly dereliction of duty. She should be the one reimbursing the firm, and employed elsewhere.
++9
Very intelligent lady.
Im so impressed with the prosecutor, he’s highly educated, he’s done his homework and studied everything about this case and he’s really organised.
Yes I agree! It was a team effort, but Mr Waters did an extremely good job at presenting the evidence and questioning witnesses! Very prepared and organized!
amaing
I agree with you completely - very organized and methodical. YES. Brenna
The minions need more recognition. They do the hard slog.
I have to agree. He did not fail even slightly with an objection.
As a 24 yr old college student who is grinding for every penny… I cannot begin to fathom what he was spending all this money on.. This nice lady is one seriously experienced CFO who absolutely killed it on the stand. I really feel for her and all the partners. Big respect to them for doing the right thing. What an ugly mess this guy has made.. RIP M&P
Drugs (especially opiates) eat up money like you wouldn't and couldn't believe unless you'd been through it or seen it intimately, up close on a financial level
Experienced? Her primary job is reconciling the books, and year after year after year, she missed Alex's embezzlement. In fact, she didn't even catch it, the paralegal did.
She's incompetent, ridiculously inept, should be fired, and have to pay for her mistakes. LITERALLY.
She fooled you.
AGREE!!! GOD BLESS US ALL THAT DO THINGS IN AN HONORABLE WAY!
He spent it on his lavish lifestyle, robbing Peter to pay Paul so to speak, on cover-ups….opiates and alcohol
He didn’t spend all of that money on drugs. There’s no way.
Home reno and property investment .
he is hiding it. he had people cashing checks for him and bringing him stacks of cash.
Some dealer was banking off him. Prolly charging double per pill
@@traviswalker4126 I’d say triple per pill, nobody can spend this kinda money on pills can they? Seems hardly impossible
I think he must have been gambling too!! 🙄👿
This case has consumed me. The more I re-watch, the more I’m amazed by the prosecution and how well he did laying out the information in bits and pieces so that the jurors could slowly consume each piece. He didn’t flood them with information so they had to try and drink it from a fire hydrant.
Agreed
A lot of people who were critical of the prosecution didn’t realize their technique. They talked about how the prosecutors would slowly have witnesses repeat the same information, etc. Very important in making clear points that they tidily wrapped up at the end of the case.
Me too for a number of reasons I still don’t understand why 2 guns, I don’t think he alone committed the crimes. I can’t see how a jury convicted in 3 hours with 7 weeks of testimony. I have so many questions so I am watching it all over again with you. The guy is disgusting just for stealing the amounts of money he did, but something in me doesn’t think he shot M&P and I don’t understand why I feel this way. He clearly had the motive the dogs weren’t barking he was down at the kennels when the crimes occurred I don’t understand why I don’t see it.
There is something very odd ... weird .. as to where ALL this money went. Pills were a minor part NOT major. Hard drugs like dealing cocaine? He wasn’t a Coke head and he wasn’t buying high priced items per say
At this point I believe it’s most likely gambling. I believe he thought his dad would protect him and this wouldn’t be investigated like it was
But then his dad died. He definitely killed them. The “boat case” was going to ruin his whole world and knew he had to eliminate Paul. Maybe Maggie was collateral damage. Maybe she was meant to be part of his alibi and then she was where she shouldn’t be. Maybe she was supposed to drive back to the house and didn’t. All I know is he lied about being there AT the time of the murders so he either did it or knew someone else was doing it. Period
Hey, jeannie, if you ever read this, I was so impressed by you and the other women in the office. The warm feelings you have for each other and your professionalism we're both striking. I hope you can recover from this and be a happy group together again.
This lady was one who I believe for the most part always saw the real Alex.
I'm impressed too. All the thievery she let happen right under her nose.
Me too I don't believe the rest of the firm were crooked in their dealings with their clients
you're demented
@@ellemontgomery6569😂right
".... because Alex stole it."
You can tell she was happy to finally nail his ass. She had the sense that something was wrong all along but couldn’t prove it at first. I love when she turns directly to the jury & says “ Because Alex stole it”
😂😂 I totally agree. She's an excellent witness.
For nearly a decade, Alex was diverting an enormous amount of funds away from the firm that should've been on the books, accounted for. Why was this? I find it astonishing that this CPA missed it all this time. She should be fired.
Her brothers in law was a crook with alec!!I loved her and her detail and confidence..
People don't realize that accusing a Partner in a law firm could destroy your career.
😂
She’s only happy that his head is rolling and not hers
I can’t imagine a seven figure bonus on top of $125k a year salary. After all of that he felt the need to steal. He truly is a very greedy man.
125k salary is actually low for a lawyer in recent 4 years. He was 15 or 20 years experience. 125k is entry level. These lawyers go into the year full knowing they will actually be a shareholder, and get full year payout, in December.
It’s actually a pretty low base salary. This is incentive to take on cases that will have big pay off. He was likely living way above his means. I’m curious what his actual take home bonuses were the last 20 years or so.
@@cathycoryell2351 It might not be a huge salary for an associate, but these lawyers were partners, sharing the profits, which was their real income. The salary of $125K was pocket change.
Neither can I. My netto pension is 1400 USD a month. 🤣
@@alphachicsuc1178 well they mentioned 7 figure bonuses. So that’s at least a million every year for bonus, right?
Unbelievable!!! It appears that lawyers and law firms have far too much control over how the money flows in these cases, makes me wonder how many other thousands of lawyers across the nation are doing this exact same slight of hand to steal from the people they represent. I truly hope this case will inspire a change in how these cases and fees are handled.
That’s absolutely true. I know someone that sued their employer and the lawyer that represented them, took more money than they did. All lawyers are truly liars and thieves.
✔️
Thinking the same… why on earth would these employees also have access to the systems to make entries on the books, but also doesn’t this mean that Alec’s team also illegally processed these??
You are so rigbt
Yes it's across the country. I was a victim of lawsuit fraud with the fraud being done by my law firm. They failed to pay me upon my settling an auto accident until one year after my case was settled. This was in Michigan metro Detroit suburb of Southfield. I finally got paid and then apparently it happened again with a different client of that firm. This firm was just cheating clients like crazy. My case was for $200,000 almost 20 years ago.
I watch her testimony over and over again, she’s so incredibly believable. I just like to hear her talk I believe every word she saying.
Absolutely!! Me too. I feel like I'm right there with them. Lol
And it’s so nice not to hear an “um” every 5 seconds. She’s so intelligent
@@patriciawalder7799 “intelligent” you must be watching a different video than me but this lady was a pushover letting the lawyers walk all over her she is the opposite of intelligent she’s actually weak and backed down from every fight she supposedly brought up
@@MrSantanasWorld She most def. didn't do her job. 10 years and she didn't catch on, she is incompetent. All of these people singing her praises would be stolen BLIND if they had a business and she was in charge. LOL LMAO at the ignorance of the masses, no wonder so many are just getting by, they lack common sense and education in finances.
Same. I’ve watched her testimony 3 times now. Jeannie Seckinger for the win
Jeanne probably doesn't realize it, but when she describes Alex's personality, work ethics and ability to manipulate others, she's describing the characteristics of a sociopath. I couldn't understand the why of offing his wife and son until the paralegal testified... it was for no other reason than to elicit other's sympathy and take the focus off his theft of the firm's money. Plus, he might have thought there were life insurance payouts in the wings. Easy decision for a person with no conscience or moral compass.
I do not know how life insurance policy’s payout and who it is reported to but I do not believe there wasn’t any life insurance policies. Just my opinion.
I also feel he didn’t want Maggie to find out how much of a thief is actually is! He knew this would come out! 🤔
Bingo!!!
Yes! I also think she wasn’t happy in their marriage or she would have been staying with him without being told.
Paul was going to prison for negligent homicide (soon).
Alex was about to be completely humiliated in finance, business, marriage, legacy…. everything. So, he pulled out a Hail Mary hoping to make Paul a victim, hide his failed marriage, garner sympathy and postpone the inevitable financial and business wreck and just maybe get enough money in inheritance and selling things to “fix” it.
I think he killed his son to get rid of the law suit and ither Maggie saw him or he kill her for the life insurance. It’s all about the money to him!
She gives absolutely 0 craps 😂 I love it!
Alex just stewing pissed 😂😂😂
Zero, I tell ya! 😂
She is great, no bs.
The look on her face when she looks in his direction!😂
@@tammyslade1375 yes, he being such a arrogant, "I'm so important,"would hate having His Workers giving evidence against him!, yes she has a " crackingly good " look toward him😅
I like her style!
15:37 when she said he was a B.S lawyer I would have fell out my seat laughing if I was a juror, they would have had to dismiss me 😭😭😭😭
Me too!🤣I re-watch different ones who took the stand during this trial because Creighton Waters brilliantly paved the way from start to finish to find AM guilty of double murder and I did not catch what she said the first time I saw this and how, I do not know. I just had to go back to that part two times to make sure I indeed heard her correctly and DAMN if she didn’t say that😂then came to comments for JUST that and glad your’s was only 3 weeks ago. Makes me feel better for being back to this trial again LOL.
EDIT: Just an afterthought. It would’ve been like being at church and trying not to laugh out loud🤣But…it then only takes that one person who can no longer contain themselves to finally lose it, then the others will too. So, it probably would’ve only taken one juror to lose it for the rest of them to do so. I would’ve been booted off the jury as the culprit who first laughed out loud and had to be dismissed…for good😂
She was pissed off & mad AF bout him stealing 😂
Miss K here. Lawd that made me break out laughin! I was like "Oh Snap"
She is matter of fact and articulate but considering how high she was in the operations of the firm for as many years as she was, she should have caught this years ago.
My thoughts exactly during her whole testimony. For a woman that seems to be a good read of people and never fails to dot her i's and cross her t's she must look back and feel terrible for not catching on sooner but, she deserves a tremendous amount of credit for bringing this information to light. If it were me, I would take great pride in that fact. My heart break's for all the "so many" people that, that monster had effected their lives so negatively, even if they are a bunch of ten cent millionaire's.
Absolutely.
He has absolutely NO right to glare at this witness, or ANY witnesses, or the prosecuting staff!!! His living son seems to mirror his father’s smugness!
Glare at big bubba wifey Alec
So did the son he murdered, allegedly, let me get out in front with that initially.
Apples don’t fall far from the tree
Stop, he can do whatever he wants. You don’t determine what someone can/can’t should/shouldn’t do. You don’t know them & would not want someone speaking of you or telling you what you can or can’t do.
Smugness is an understatement. This is clearly severe mental illness tempered and enabled by shear ignorance. Bless their hearts😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
As a retired legal assistant that spent most of my career in personal injury I am just so disgusted. The majority of these plaintiffs would be suffering life altering, painful injuries, some would be families that have lost someone they loved. He stole from his own brother! Cameras in the Courtroom are a vital part of his punishment as well as a message to other dishonest lawyers of what can happen when you are caught. Its money and there is always going to be a paper trail. My heart goes out to Jeanne Seckinger and all of the highly skilled support staff that should have been able trust their employer.
Oh, the death of Hakeem Pinckney, (the fellow who Alex won a large lawsuit for), and who was a quadriplegic due to a catastrophic accident, and apparently someone "pulled the plug" on his oxygen at the skilled nursing facility the day after the settlement arrived - something like that. That one struck me terribly. I learned that from reading so many comments on this thread. Brenna
@@brennajlawrence1911 His family would still be entitled to the settlement - at least here in Canada. So there might be several suspects. It looks like Alex stole settlement money that his plaintiffs were not aware of yet or at all.
@@dannsherstone1037 I was thinking the exact same thing. I wonder if Buster will successfully hide any of the money or assets? Brenna
@@brennajlawrence1911 I don't think there is any money. Alex's addiction cost a lot of money - so its all gone. If there are any assets left after they settle the boat lawsuit the law firm will go after them. Buster is broke.
@@dannsherstone1037 I think there is still property - from what I watched on UA-cam testimony videos - and posts on this thread. I read somewhere that Alex and Maggie owned a 1,700 acre property in South Carolina. IF that is still owned by someone in the family - or the trust - that will bring LOTS of money.
I think part of her disdain is embarrassment. All this happened under her watch as CPA and CFO of this company and she had no controls in place to catch this sort of thing. Millions of dollars being stolen for years on her watch completely undetected. At one point she even started to admit fault and then caught herself. “I can’t believe I let…. That this happened.” She’s clearly very smart and well versed in the subject matter but was operating on trust rather than putting the right systems in place. A lot of people assume she knew something was going on, but I think it’s possible she didn’t know, and now she’s humiliated.
she's pissed
I agree with all of this and agree she is pissed
That's why the FBI was called. Their not taking the fall for this.
Alec is the one who should be humiliated
I agree with most of your statement. Although she has a CPA and was a CFO she actually proved that she wasn’t that smart at all!
Millions of dollars stolen repeatedly over many many many years under your compliance does not make a smart person!
She has no idea how to put a system in place to block that type of internal theft.
The word compliance officer is nowhere in here articulate vocabulary!😂
She went on a cloche and dagger hunt after it was brought to her attention.
Alex would still be stealing if it weren’t for Annette. 😮
I love how she looks at the jury when she says “because he stole it! And then turns and appears to look at Alec….over and over and over
💯 I noticed that she is so proud 👏 good woman because she's honest
Yea I noticed that to she’s a boss
I know right ! She’s pretty brave lady , wasn’t shooken or intimidated at all!
She would've been very very concerned at one point.
Ditto🙌🏼Awesome testimony!!
That lady will look Alex in the eyes while throwing him under the bus...I like her!
I don’t blame her. His antics would have put her in prison if anyone else caught his fraud. She’s not throwing him under the bus; she’s outing him for making it look like she was helping him steal money.
Your statement makes it sound like she is doing this to him. HE did everything to himself. She is merely telling the truth.
@@toyamwarr Exactly!
Of course she will, she covered for him for 10 years. Every thing went through her and there’s no way she didn’t catch any other of these thefts over the years. She just didn’t say anything about it til he got sloppy.
@@toyamwarr there’s absolutely no way she didn’t know over that period of time and never questioned it prior to the paralegal actually getting involved. She’s trying to hide behind the cloak & trying to throw everything at him. She was directly involved as she handled everyone of them & never caught it. Still doesn’t make him a murderer, he’s a thief, and they haven’t proven that he started taking money years before so why kill them now??? Not buying it. This trial is actually showing why he didn’t do it himself & leading towards someone he stole from. That fake account she was balancing for years never seemed strange to her, not until the paralegal brought it to her and she had no choice but to make it known to save herself.
Wow. He’s just an all-round garbage human being. Does anybody have the slightest doubt about the validity of this woman’s testimony? What a great witness! I hope the rest of the law firm is able to survive both the financial devastation & the hit to their reputations for being associated with this despicable man. It sounds as though they’ve made every effort to reimburse the clients he stole from, while also having been stolen from as well. That’s an enormous amount of money. Where is it?
i have to wonder where the money went. he could not spend that much money on drugs or he would be dead. he was stealing & likely helping banker on the side. if he goes to jail he will be miserable eneery waking moment. not sure if sc has the death penalty
If you don’t think she was also involved as well as her banker brother n law, you been drinking way too much koolaid. She hid the account for 10 year’s, not 1 or 2 years, she knew it for 10 year’s and did nothing but act like it was fine.
I don’t want to imagine where the money went 😬
Real estate?
@@billtribble7197eal estate?
I like her a lot. Not only does she give clear, concise, direct and to the point answers but you can also tell she's not affraid of anyone, especially Alex Murdaugh. She's angry at what he did and seems very happy to call a thief a thief to his face. What a great employee!
That’s wonderful but she really sucks at her job.
That's only part of it. Alex made a fool of her. She didn't catch anything going on in 10 years?
@@donnagordon5454 ...You know, I didn't even think about it like that but you're 100% right! Their Controller missed a decade of bogus transactions right under her nose? As a business owner thats a terrifying thought.
CW: Why did the partners have to repay?
JS: Because Alex Murdaugh stole it.
Every. Single. Time. She sounds more disgusted with every new allocation.
@@JLarsonRN1 Understandably so. She probably caught a ton of shiz for missing all that money. That's her number one job - to understand *EXACTLY where their money is and how it's moving around.
This judge is the best I've ever seen I mean he is truly a significant law abiding man🙏 and if we had more judges like this honourable guy justice would be served more 🙏
The Chandler Halderson judge was the same way.
I think he’s amazing also, it’s a very long process & he’s also thorough & seems to be very knowledgeable/ prepared for many issues.
Totally agree.
I love Miss Jeanne. She is sharp and a straight shooter. Great testimony.
She seems like a very genuine lady who thought of this firm as her family.
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to !
Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! !
AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY.
I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! !
IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP !
🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND !!
@@mauracassidy1762 I’ve thought on this a great deal over the past few days and what I think is a spreadsheet needs to be made of each,lawyer and each case they have. Periodically the cases need to be verified if they have settled. I do not know if this is being done by the Lara,Eagan’s or done at all. I still refuse to place blame on Jeanne for any theft or irregularities in her job. Alec is a career thief and liar. He also has the gift of BS ing.
Too bad she wasn't this "sharp" in performing her job duties, as had she done so, none of this fraud would have taken place, and she'd not be testifying, in the first place.
Either she's complicit, or just asleep at the wheel. Either way, she should be fired for dereliction of duties.
She's so angry at Alex because he exposed her ineptitude...
She has an axe to grind. Not great testimoney
As an accountant myself, this whole case is appaling, Accounts is never based on trust but proper internal controls, IFRS, GAAP, accounting procedures and policies, this law firm messed up big time, I admire the CFO for her honest testimony but fraud will happen because of greed, opportunity and no morals
And no internal controls, ie ACCOUNTING.
She should have called a meeting much earlier with the Partners, not after the whole office burned down. My sister bis a CPA and that wouldn't have flown by her by trust. 2+2 equals 4. She should of been more aggressive.
There is no way that kind of money could not of been flagged as missing, poor CPA skills...I would of fired her.
The first time he stole the money intended from his brother, she should have done a full review of his accounts. Should have watched him extra carefully. She knew he was dishonest. But she still "trusted" him for years. Total negligence as a CPA.
@@peggyjones3282 it was a family operation and they had the benefit of a Brotherhood and Trust. She did okay
A person who stole from these families as a result of permanent disability and loss of life, struggling families, friends who you claim to care about and love. You're capable of anything in my opinion. And he wants people to believe he wouldn't kill his wife and child? This man is pure evil.
Someone nominate this fine woman for President of The United States!!!!
He stole fee money that was payable to his own brother (also a lawyer at that firm). Alex has no conscience whatsoever. He stole from injured & vunerable folks in his community. He murdered his family. He's a scumbag.
It would be interesting to know what misdeeds Alex did as a young man that were covered up by his family. You don't suddenly plan and kill your own family, you head down that road with many moral compromises prior to that event. I would imagine the whole family is at the very least tapped danced around corruption since they had such a powerful name for so long in a small world.
It takes years of practice to be this evil. His daddy may have taught him. Buster will be like his daddy.
true. He was engaging in criminal behavior for so many years at the law firm, it was baked into his character.
@@sookie4195 Not necessarily he may take the opposite road. Only God knows.
He definitely had to get it from somewhere lol I'm thinking of the stuff that we DONT know about!!
@@tiffanygipson the documentaries dive into the past of the family. At the very least, corruption is generational for them
How embarrassing for Jeannie, to be the chief financial officer of such a lucrative law firm and not notice 5 million in stolen funds until concerns were raised by a paralegal who worked there. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but still. 😳
That's a damn good point I hadn't thought of BR. Good insight 👍
That’s bizarre, aren’t they audited? Why didn’t their tax accountant flag it up
Makes you wonder if she knew what was going how could she not. She was in charge of keeping impeccable records for a million dollar law firm.
She knew it was going on but was too scared to do anything about it
Agree the extra bit of anger and disdain on her part is definitely embarrassment. A lot of people think she knew what was going on. I think it’s possible she didn’t know what was going on and she was humiliated for not having done her job and had controls in place to catch this sort of thing.
What gets me is a guy who made 7 figures/year would feel compelled to steal. What a degenerate.
People live beyond their means, even millionaires. Some owe $5,000, others $500 million. It's all relevant in the salary you make, and many want to have an image that they can't afford.
Rich people get greeedier
One of the most absurd things to me was Maggie’s sister calling them “comfortable but not incredibly rich.” Super rich people love to say that. “We’re JUST comfortable.” But when the cops went through your trash they found a Gucci receipt in excess of $10k. Comfortable my ass! Land may be cheap in SC but all the toys and goodies and extras were not. What a joke.
Nothing exceeds like excess!
@@UptownLexi Exactly what I thought. But the sister who called them "comfortable but not lavish" also has a home in the FL Keys herself. So, everything is relevant. To these ppl I guess that is just "comfortable."
I’m sure he’s “throwing invisible daggers “ at her when she says, “Alec stole it”.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Respect for this incredible woman. She projected knowledge, honesty, integrity, no nonsense attitude. She knew her info inside-out and backwards and was straightforward with all this information piece by piece building all the evidence one client at a time. I personally found her testimony the most interesting and easiest to follow so far.
But failed in her responsibilities in preventing fraud and or theft. As a CPA she has the responsibility to ensure that the most up to date security protocals are being followed to prevent fraud and or theft. She failed in that. Instead she went along with the good ole boy method of accounting.
I AGREE completely. I did as well - incredible. Her testimony had the most clear cut evidence and facts. Brenna
Astonishing that he stole so much for so long from his firm (10+ years!)....I hope other firms take notice of this case and review/tighten their financial controls accordingly!
Not the first time in history - B. Madoff, ENRON for starters -
Their fees go up and the next clients have to pay...That's how political economics work....why we all are paying more and more and more....criminal minds
@@JERSEYTOMATO I thought of EXACTLY the same thing - Bernie Madoff. Brenna
And this is why we know that the partners and this CFO knew exactly what was going on!!!
Jeannie should have mentioned that without the honesty and hard work of a loyal smart paralegal she and the rest of the firm may have never found out what Murdaugh was doing with the firm's client funds. She was the one who finally confronted Murdaugh but without the evidence given to her by s very smart paralegal he would still be stealing money. Give credit where credit is deserved.
So glad to hear you say this. I’ve been thinking the same thing. That particular paralegal has been the witness that has absolutely impressed me the most. She was outstanding.
As the CFO how do you miss MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of dollars.....
Miss K here... right???
BOTTOM LINE: At least she SPOKE up. Many, many people NEVER speak up about crimes occurring around.
I think she was just doing her job. Others in the law firm must really trust her judgement so, they were willing to hear what she had to say. That law firm really does respect her expertise.
i think of the exposee the NEW YORK TIMES DID ON D.TRUMP AND HIS FATHER,,INTO THEIR FINANCES,,,HOW ON EARTH DID THE IRS NOT SEE THE SHENNANAGANS? FOR SO MANY YEARS? ,AND I THINK ITS BECAUSE DT WAS SYNONOMOUS WITH NEW YORK, CITY , AND VICE VERSA...,AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN ITS ALL COMING OUT.
Spoke up? It's her job to manage the firms Money and she absolutely failed at that.
Were they never audited? I agree she's a great witness, but this went on for years and cost millions. Obviously, there wasn't enough oversight by her or her staff.
Amen
Hes a partner, and she's an employee. Her job was probably at stake.
Absolutely. She was a CPA. She knew better than to just trust. She never designed internal controls. She knew he was dishonest when he stole his brothers money. She knew he needed extra watching. But she turned a blind eye. (I world also guess that she didn't have much support from the partners though.)
AGREE with you Dean,his deceit went on for YEARS not months he stole over 8 MILLION!
I wonder the same, how did this go on for so long? Clearly the firm was blindly trusting the attorneys. Who knows if there is more to the story.
Ms.Seckinger is a true high professional, that most of the time hold up firms, companies, corporations and even governments out of their own muck. Honesty as her core value to seek out accountability within her firm, for her firm and her employers. She did and is doing her under paid (i bet) JOB (S)!!!! Thank you for standing your ground and speaking the facts. You deserve a raise without a doubt .🎖️
She's a CPA. I'm sure she was making well over 100k a year at a firm making as much money as this one was.
Did the thought ever occur to you that it wasn't real honest for her to table the issue of Alex hiding assets? Did the thought ever occur to you that it was her job "for years" to make sure money wasn't stolen from clients and she failed miserably. I mean if I was her boss , I'd be pretty pissed at her incompetence.
@Fedeleness interesting comment. She knew AM for years, she must have known or suspected his immoral ethics. Look at the photos prior, bloated and overweight, his look jacked up, I can believe people knew but with the wealth and position he relied on, The signs were all there, and sadly Maggie was tong to pay due to guilty knowledge. HER housekeeper of 20 yrs ..think about it, Maggie knew the shop was stinking and sinking. Offshore money is a huge story all around and reeks, of drugs, sex; money laundering and death. , a cesspool of filth.
@@Fedeleness agree.
@@Fedeleness ???
Wow, great witness for the prosecution. She's intelligent, dispassionate, and remembers all details.
This is why there should be external audits. Im not sure how this could continue for so long.
A po-dunk town.
This Lady is a great witness. Very knowledgeable and able to explain the business side of a law firm.
She’s on fire! Great testimony!
She's amazing. She explains very complicated transactions in very understandable ways.
Ok you just explained why I'm so attracted to her. I couldn't figure it out, but I love smart, competent woman.
@@hlg3501 how old are you she's an old lady
@Amber Moon She's not an old lady!
If he likes older woman. who are you to say she's ugly or old? The point is she mid age like I am. She is attractive as well as smart!!
This witness is very damaging to this crook. The sheer amount of money he greedily stole from friends, co-attorneys and family is horrifying.
Thats funny you've labled him a crook and he isn't found guilty yet so glad you ain't no judge, asshole
He should get life on the basis of how much money he stole, sadly not to mention the murders. His 🦓 is toast! Deservingly so!
She is just as guilty
She missed this for 10 years, no way she didn’t notice this
These were large amounts of money
Ya but did he murder his family. We know he took money.
@@traviswalker4126 one has nothing to do with the other not all thieves murder
I love the tone of disgust for Murdaugh in her voice.
As an accountant, I feel bad because I can imagine the feeling of realizing the incredible fraud going on. But this happened because she wasn't doing her job. The job of an accountant is to trust no one. She signed off on Financials. She signed off on their internal controls. She had nothing in place to prevent this. And that was her job. She screwed up. Yes. He's the thief. But she was the line of defense again this.
@lisa777
@LisaR777
Peggy, I totally agree!! I think sometimes we work with people and trust them but thieves count on your trust. Soo as Reagan said, Trust but verify!!
So true!!!
I'm in a similar position, and tend to agree. Although I feel for the CFO; it's something we all hope to never have happen.
How in the world did he steal all of that money for all those years and no one caught it blows my mind!!
i can't believe it either...there's more to this mess than we think.......when a cfo/ceo/cpa doesn't pick up on millions of missing dollars over a ten year period, give me a break.....what is the rest of the story.....
Was there no external audit? I just cannot believe this man got away with this for so long!
why didn't she see it sooner?
@@mwoods4608 exactly!!!
Exactly! Perhaps they chose to keep an eye closed to these misplacing of funds, and Alex took it too far? If they were doing their jobs diligently, no way Alex would have gotten away with this for so long!
Alex is a privileged white man ..even with other privilege white men ! Disgusting 🤮 behavior…
Private companies don’t have to be audited.
Even when I watch this again now, the scope of his stealing from his clients is mind blowing. It really told people just that how “cold blooded” he had to be to do all of this. And then say that the day his wife and son were murdered was just an ordinary day. He is a very dangerous man and I am glad he will never walk among free society again. And how his son can’t see the truth is beyond me. Or maybe he does….
Good job Jeanine
The way he stole from the satterfields was so disgusting. To look around and find people to take advantage of then get 4 mill and not give them anything. When he ask the state trooper to bring the check to him then cashes it for self. I’m a recovering addict. That does not excuse this behavior.
@@jamiekloer6534I heard where the defense said, this testimony wasn't to speak to Alex's character- just to motive. But come on!! This speaks to his character & to motive. Alex was as cold hearted & sociopathic as a person can be. He stole from clients who were injured, or harmed. He stole $ that was to go to his own brother Randy! No conscience. Not when it came to stealing, or when it came to murder. He should never ve released from prison! He IS disgusting. And addiction doesn't excuse what he did. You nailed it!!
Same. I've saw a lil amount I've spent on drugs and it's mind blowing in itself I couldn't imagine having money like that and having a problem.... @@jamiekloer6534
Buster knows. It’s not about truth, it’s about protecting your own, even murderers.
This lady is great. I learned a long time ago in business that narcissists take advantage of the trust they build with you..... it's necessary for their cover to hide in plain sight. It's so important in all organisations to have processes and audit those processes, (different from the accounting audit)... doesn't matter how friendly you all are with each other.... it should be an objective relationship and depersonalised.
1000%
You Boys--Girls, must know how to run a Business very well, good advice 👍
It's too bad that Chris Wilson never picked up the phone and called someone - anyone - at the Murdauch law firm - letting at least one of the partners (or Jeanne, the CFO) know that Alex had set up this 'sketchy' account that he still owed money to and that Chris himself had covered from his own funds.
Eye opening
How did she miss millions of dollars
The law firm re-issued a check that was apparently lost and DIDN'T void/stop payment on the first check? Very dumb on the firm's part.
Love how you guys are breaking these down per witness. Makes it that much more interesting.
Alex never loaned the firm money because he was busy stealing the firm's money😅😅😅
She’s pissed off at him and called him out photographic memory 😅
Also I had an aha!! Moment when she said he never helped with the loans to the firm at the beginning of every year,what a selfish person
She can say all she wants, you have no idea the true structure in that firm and are only listening to what that inept so called CPA/COO/CFO is saying.
@@nunya2954 shut up Buster
Nh ya. Is trying to say she should have caught the missing money sooner
Posted on this thread also, your actually the first person I've seen with same last name spelling, not many ..
@@nunya2954 yep, you have connections to Alec M. do you ?
She was an excellent witness. My one question is, as the company book keeper, how in the world did she miss this for so many years? The loss should have shown the very first year of filing taxes or the company's own financial audit.
She did explain it , she always saw the flags but he was trusted and she had every reason to believe what she was being told,’until, she didn’t, and then she began asking and looking
She's far more than a bookkeeper, she's a CPA and a CFO. Not to slight bookkeeper (I'm one) , but she has far more expertise than what being a certified bookkeeper requires.
He created a business and DBA and the bank account by which to steal and named it very closely to the real settlement structure company. He named his business DBA Forge. The real company the firm used was Forge Consulting.
You have to be an obsessed eagle eye to catch that every day. I work in Corporate Finance and our company name has three words, but we get plenty of checks where they only put the first of our three names on our checks. I'd say 40 percent come in like that.
So if someone at one of those businesses paying us decided to create a fake company, and bank account, they could easily orchestrate a theft that it would take a while to catch internally. It would look like invoices were being paid properly, but the employee would be cutting checks and depositing them in their fraudulent account. Many financial crimes happen just like that and it is classic.
That is what happened here, but it's even worse because there was an abuse of power. He, as an attorney, was telling clients that their funds would take longer for them to get, and they believed him, naturally.
That's why they keep harping on his ability to read and manipulate ppl with each witness.
Just want to say as someone who was a victim of financial fraud by my ex-husband, I totally understood where she was coming from (and also Annette Griswold when she testified). You don't want to believe someone that you trust would do something so awful so you look for any alternate theory for what could have happened and you take them at their word that it's a mistake or someone else's fault. But when you take the blinders off and REALLY look - then you want to KNOW IT ALL (like when she did the big print out of all the accounts) and things are never the same again.
They had to be allowing it
No. Her job was to reconcile that account to the penny, timely. Timely would be prior to the financial report printings, at a minimum. Quarterly financials are pretty standard. She only mentioned a reconciliation at the end of the calendar year. Yet she never detected any missing funds for the first 10 years that thefts were happening.
An account consisting of only a few high dollar client cases, might have been set to reconcile at the conclusion of each specific client case and prior to the final disbursements.
And she was supposed to be kind to him for all he had to suffer for killing his own family! Hang in there, Jeanne, the defense are very aware that you have spoken truth to power. 2:54:22
2:54:28
Not sure how you can steal so much money from a Law Firm, full of lawyers, and a CFO with her experience and pedigree.
TO THE LAW FIRM: SOMEONE WAS NOT WATCHING THE BOOKS FOR YEARS!!! How can thousands for each case get ignored??? Did anyone see deposits to the real Forge Consulting? Did anybody say: Hey we had a lot of cases here, but no deposits? Wow! No-one ever checked to prove that client got their money????? This is unbelievable that no one checked the books!!!
EXACTLY
Amen!!! Not to mention the fact that she testified under oath that he told her he was hiding assets and did nothing about it. She is being hailed as a hero when it was his own paralegal that raise concerns. She sucks as a CFO
THEY MUST HAVE HAD MILLIONS IN THAT ACCOUNT,,,
@@scottiefedordudley8274 Incompetent is more an accurate description of her capabilities.
Right Scotty, she just a rat. She aint break the case. But she knew all the time.
I had a sleazy boss who was the President of our company. He was always trying to do weird and unsavory things and I made it known I do everything by the book. So glad I had high ethical standards and stood up to him.
Me too. I worked in a large regional hospital for 45 yrs. This happened 32 years ago. I was mixing large IVs. We added insulin to the bags bc the base fluids had lots of dextrose.
Rarely did we add heparin to a bag and it was always written as 1000 Units. This order wrote for 100 u. For heparin ....our standard order for these bags was always 500 U.
I mistook the units of heparin as insulin. The order, written by a PharmD, wasn't supposed to have any insulin. And I added 100 U. The next day the guy who wrote the order called and asked me,... You did put heparin In. Miss Jones TPN and not insulin...right?
I knew immediately that it was bad. And answered honestly.. I asked him if he made an incident report. He said he wasn't making one bc TG the RN was checking patient at MN and noticed her deep sleep was actually a coma. Her blood sugar didn't even register bc it was so low. She pushed a syringe of dextrose in and saved her.
I was so upset. We double checked those fluids and the RN had checked the bag against the order and she, my checker and me all read it as heparin.
I was 3 weeks from due date for my 3rd kid and was so shaken up I began having labor pains right then and had our baby only 8 hours later. I've never forgotten that mistake.
He did make a report bc I told him if he didn't, I was. He also apologized later and told me he was wrong.
At that time we didn't record near misses in our errors but the protocol was changed at our director's request after seeing how close we came to killing this woman. We also separated drugs with like units of measure on written orders.
Some real good came out of it. We began reporting to patients near misses too.
Btw this guy was only coworker in 45 yrs to suggest not doing right. i found most medical staff are very ethical and honest.
When I trained ppl the first thing I said was, When in doubt we throw it out no matter the expense of the drug and you won't get in trouble.
Trouble comes when you lie.
I got cancer 2 yrs ago and continued working until retirement age. When covid hit I lived in too much fear bc I'd had the largest lung lobe removed and chemo etc. My immune system was shot and I knew if I got covid it would likely kill me.
I was lucky to have a career I loved but unlike some old ppl I knew young ppl are ready to take over the world. It's all in how you're raised. My dad used to tell us we were being grounded bc we tried to lie our way out of trouble. Said he couldn't abide a liar or a thief.
It's never left me.
I see I wrote a mini novel 🤣.
Sorry. I've been living alone with 2 cats for awhile and no matter how I communicate it's gonna be long !!!
@@juliecrane9647 thank you, we need more nurses like you.
Good! Because they have no honor. They will tempt you then throw you under the bus if it allows them to keep their position and look like the good guy smh!
@@juliecrane9647
No apologies needed because you're a strong and awesome chick! I loved reading your comment. 💙🤗
Found myself in a similar situation several years back
This testimony is a perfect example that the love of money is the root of all evil.
Amen 🙏
Do you happen to remember if this is the video that she says that he kept a check that was meant for John Marvin for a $121,000 ?
Yeah, but it's not. Some people are out for money, but some desire power, control, reputation, and a host of other things.
and many have pierced their souls with sorrow!!!
Greed is the downfall of humankind
Part of my professional life was as an internal auditor for a large publicly held company. The company had stringent internal controls. Despite all of these controls employees always found new methods to steal. In this case, internal controls were not as stringent since this firm the attorneys trusted one another. The crooked banker made things much easier for Alex. I suspect this firm and other large law firms have learned a lot from this and implemented strict internal controls. In a business this size it is fairly simple to require two signatures, one being the CFO, on all checks or disbursement journals.
Thank you for this explanation
This woman has just given a master class in ethics and professionalism.
Absolutely!!
How responsible would she be if she were your CEO?? For 10 years (at least) she has been oblivious to how the payouts were made to satisfy the clients in the entire firm! It makes you wonder how many of these partners agreed to compensate her for looking the other way. If she still has her job then the whole firm is crooked.
What??!!! She starts out saying she & the Firm were fine & dandy accepting his excuse of funneling his income into his wife’s account in order to avoid consequences & accept accountability to Mallory’s family.
@@keepnreal7835 and??? What about the 90 other clients who never saw their money?? When one of the firms clients wins a 4.5M settlement.. she had no idea whether they received it?? That’s complete and total incompetence! That was her freaking job.
To much of a coincidence the day he is confronted and his world is done the murders happen?
That's because by trying to get away with murder, he'd be collecting 6 million in insurance fees!!
He himself said that the deaths of his son Paul & his wife Maggie would make the Mallory Beach wrongful death case go away... (no perpetrator to prosecute and no Dad to sue, as "Dad" would be a victim now) ....or was that the prosecuting lawyer for the girl's family...
What an impeccable witness! Her integrity spoke volumes. Check out the story on American Greed “The decline of a dynasty”.
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to !
Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! !
AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY.
I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! !
IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP !
🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND . !!
If she worked for me she would be fired.
Let's see how good she does on cross examination.
@@nunya2954 shut up Buster
The paralegal broke the case, she's just a 🐁 cooperating for 🧀 to save her own face cuz she had to have known
How was he able to steal millions for decades without the accountant knowing. She must of not been doing her job since 1999 when she joined. The law firm is just trying to save face now. I hope no one goes to that law firm for business anymore. There’s no way if she was doing her job that he would have been able to steal money for that many years.
She wasnt a good accountabt thats obviouss
That's exactly what i said. Some of those checks were 750,000 each. How did they not notice that quicker. Like immediately. Is this the only law firm down there. Damm.
Alex’ lawyer is helping the prosecution with his questioning of this witness!
Its sickening how rude and combative the defense is to the witness when she's not the one being prosecuted...
what ????? that is their job to discredit her testimony as much as possible - his fraud is the motive for murdering his wife and son - so this lady would have a lot of very tangible information about his motive.
Glad to hear her testimony. This entire time I've been wondering why clients weren't knocking down the doors wondering where their settlement had gone.... in some cases ENTIRE settlements... but I see now sometimes he kicked some money back saying to take it out of his "fees" to help the poor clients... making him look like a nice guy to give up some of his part of the settlements. Those fees are supposed to go into a pot and split by all the partners at the end of the year so he ripped off his "brothers" as well. I've only been involved once in a case where there was a settlement. Our attorney received 30%... and it was all laid out item by item. I just trusted it was right and glad to finally be done with it and to have gotten anything. I'm pretty sure my attorney was honest about it all... but it does make me see how many may have just trusted that so much of their settlement was swallowed up by attorney fees (some take a lot more than 30% depending on the case); expenses, etc.
I was wondering that too! if they had won the case they know they’re getting or should be getting a settlement . I wonder what lies he told them when asked where their settlement went. Those are probably the ones who he said he took money out of his fees for (just to shut them up). Both pathetic and disgusting. Now I’m curious as to how many other lawyers are pulling this scheme.
@Vince Is Here Long ago, I worked in a municipal law firm... and I know not all attorneys are evil nor greedy... but yes, it made me wonder the same thing. It can be expensive to work such cases... and I believe attorneys SHOULD get fair compensation. However, I think there should be a federal law capping the percentage. 30% seems fair, even on contingency cases. At most, 40%, and that should include costs. I think that is where some of these attorneys really overbill their clients as they can stick in anything from copying documents to travel and meal costs. I think in one of Murdaugh's cases, he even billed the client for a private jet & limousine services. SMH...
He gave them “some” i believe and i guess they thought he got them what he could.
@@TheBioExplorer let me get this straight - you are saying you think the government ( made up primarily of lawyers) is going to pass a law restricting how much money that lawyers can make ? do you have an agent ? - you might want to give netflix a call - you must do stand up comedy
@PJ Predhomme Didn't say it would be easy, but... They already have limited their percentages with certain types of cases. For example, I believe they are limited in some cases regarding social security recipients to 30%... might be 35%. Besides... Even if the percentage is limited, they can still make tons when taking larger cases.
His lawyers are going....Dang we should have asked for more money!!!
I admire this woman's strength and honesty. How do you spend millions like this?
Gambling I bet
EASY
Hookers & blow
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to !
Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! !
AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY.
I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! !
IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP !
🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW - PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND !!
@cm2274 I'm guessing you have no first-hand knowledge? We're referring to the inability to spend this sum without leaving a paper trail.
1 of my favorite witnesses...such a professional woman, she deserves accolades, and to have the best job out there. A true example of an honest , dedicated and loyal employee.
This woman only seemed to notice these thefts when she realized she and the firm were being ripped off. Until then, while clients were being ripped off, she didn’t notice a thing. She’s a very good CPA, right? And let’s not forget who her brother-in-law is.
BINGO…. I have been looking at the comments to see if anyone was thinking along the same lines as myself…..it’s obvious she can’t stand this man… and she appears to be enjoying sitting on that stand saying Alex stole the money (I know it’s true) but this is a classic of case of the rich get richer while the poor gets poorer again as a CFO, COO, and a CPA it never dawned on her that this man has worked just about every day besides holidays , he settled/won all of these huge cases, but the firm hasn’t received anything that they’re supposed to receive from this attorney let me investigate, ask questions, alert another partner send a smoke signal or something and the fact the Palmetto Bank board member/shareholder is her brother-in-law who helped Alex steal all this money is so bizarre her husband is probably a good old boy as well
It's incredible how easily fooled everyone is in this comment section. How little it takes to sway them when so much is right in front of them. Just shows you why Alec got away with so much for so long. Or why this whole firm, hell this whole COUNTY got away with so much for so long. A lot of it was thru intimidation and fear no doubt, but a lot of it was thru sheer gullibility as well.
@@nuckinfuts7610 they were in some small way benefitting. None of them had to worry about the police or getting bank loans, now do they? They were sitting pretty,. My guess is they still are. I say hung jury... these jurists have to go back to living in the community and the police, the bank and other people might not be happy with them. Hey, one of their relatives may die mysteriously, right?
@@nbgilbert I couldn't agree more with you again. It's incomprehensible to think they didn't know or participate in a single thing. I don't necessarily think that they are all AS corrupt as Alec, but I in no way think that they were completely in the dark about everything. And I certainly don't think that they are free of personal unethical dealings, as if they don't have plenty of those under their own belts. There are levels to all this corruption, Alec's of course being seemingly the worst. And the amount of corruption that came directly out of this county goes back many decades. Many. The county is still wildly corrupt, likely more so than ever. And PMPED was the TOP legal firm of that county. To think any one of those partners or their longtime top legal accountants knew absolutely nothing, and/or have completely clean hands is beyond absurd. They ALL have hurt and deceived people who trusted them. They all took advantage of legalities that they shouldn't have. They all did tremendously greedy, immoral, unethical, and illegal things for self serving purposes. And they carried out the vast majority of it knowing that it came at the expense of innocent people. Every one of those lawyers are dirty in some way. So to think that their top CFO knew nothing about it during allllll those years is, again, absurd. As for another good point you made, I really hope nobody else has to lose their life just to benefit one of these grimey people now that the stakes keep getting higher.
Who is her brother n law?
This woman looks over at him with such disgust almost every time she says the amount he stole with Alex’s signature. 👏 this is Greedy on whole other level.
She is absolutely an amazing witness. I was riveted to my seat listening to her testimony.
I felt the same way. How she shamed him in court!
She is courageous for sure
I’m lost here. I understand why he asked for a 2nd check, but when I’ve forgotten to cash a check and ask for a new one, the original check is voided. And this is a law firm! 🧐
Very sloppy.
Make it make sense 🤷🏻♀️
Something is fishy. They won't cash a check after 90 days usually
A law firm ran by an accountant with no law degree.
@@bengreenwood7387 the organisation of this firm is quite common. But clearly it was built entirely on trust. Which was fine until Alex breached it.
Listening to his financials I’m getting a headache! How did he manage to juggle all of that for so many years 😂
It helps when you're a big vindictive arrogant bully working at firm with your family's name on it.
Practice, practice, practice!
@@cocoaddams4502 actually his family’s name is mentioned on the firm, it’s Parker, Parker, & Dietrich, not one time is Murdaugh mentioned.
@@dudemorris7769 It was on the firm. It was PPMPD (Pimped) but the M was for Murdaugh. The company took his name out of the firms name for inexplicable reasons...
@@dudemorris7769 what? Parker? Where did you get that from? Are you mixing up the criminals from other trials?
The hurt, disappointment, anger, and disgust is visible on her face every time she looks over at him. Finally confronting someone that stole millions of dollars from the company you both worked for in front of millions of viewers is bad enough, confronting that same person who then murdered their own child and wife to cover that up is something I can't even imagine. She handled her testimony like an absolute trooper. Stoic, precise, immovable, unshakeable and heroic. She is an attorney's dream witness. Kudos to Jeanne Seckinger for doing something so difficult, so well!
No. She is inept, and incompetent for “not noticing” Alex Murdaugh embezzle millions of dollars for 10+ years. She did not do her job well.
Should have been watching the books
But yet she wasn't complaining about him being a "bullshitter" when he was bringing in the money that paid her 200k plus salary per year.
@@lucasgreen4052what a weird comment
Weird or you don't possess the required intelligence to process that statement?@@tatum2739
The average person can be arrested and face jail time for a bounced check for $25, yet this character can steal millions and not even be charged. These amounts are so staggering they are mind boggling. Spread out over all the partners in the law firm as well as Chris Wilson , the liability was $200,000 or more per person . It 😅 is unthinkable to me that not one of the good old boys in the brotherhood are willing to prosecute. This man belongs behind bars so he can’t hurt anymore of the “little people” he feels he has the God given right to exploit. Even the judge is complicit in this farce by ruling this can only be used to prove motive not as a character reference, or to prove character.
I mean the whole world watched a man die for a fake twenty note so yes I completely agree with you.
I thought that a few times, the crap you can get away with when you’re wealthy compared to us regular people, is absolutely bananas, not to mention extremely sickening, his victims will never ever get paid, I have a feeling he stashed all that money away, if so, I hope to God they find it, but Buster will probably have it
So so true.
He will be tried for stealing client's money after this trial is over. He's facing close to 100 charges, so if he gets off for the murders, he'll certainly serve time for the massive amount he embezzled. POS of a human being!
@@buggiebuild1~ Did you not listen to her testimony at all? The prosecutor went down the list and asked her about each case, and she testified as to the amount he stole in each case. She then stated that the partners of the firm reached into their own pockets and paid the clients the monies that that sociopath embezzled from them, the total of which is over TEN MILLION DOLLARS! Yep, out of their own pockets! He's a POS!
How were they not missing these fees the year they were suppose to be paid????
Bad bookkeeping.
The devastation he caused is just mind boggling. If killing his family wasn't bad enough all that money he stole had to be paid back by the very attorneys who considered him a brother. There's no doubt in mind he killed them to take the light off of what was about to be revealed at the law firm. This witness is just burying him with her testimony..
She should have gotten applause when she finished, she was such a great witness!
1. Wouldn’t the clients expect to be getting annuity statements and call the lawyer if they never did? 2. Aren’t there monthly reports showing year to date totals of fees each lawyer had brought in? Did no one notice his fees were particularly low?
3. Didn’t the firm have a financial audit somewhere between 2011-2021 that would turn up irregularities?
If you know anything about accounting principles, this is not passing the smell test.
Exactly!…she is part of the brotherhood!..
If clients were not aware of the settlement then they would not have complained. Or maybe the settlement was 500,000 and he told them they got 200,000 and he siphoned off the balance.
@@judypylant1570she's too happy exposing it to be an integral part of it
OMG, how did he get away with stealing that much money?did that law firm have no auditing process?
There was obviously no external audit.
she should have seen it!
Firm was pinching Pennie’s and outside auditor’s fees are as expensive as lawyer fees.The expense of an audit would have to be paid out of the partners bonuses.
@@jimarcher5255 The audit may have discovered other illegal shenanigans going on!
@@marydavis7978 That’s true. The other partners could be stealing too. After all they were all lawyers.
15:13 A reminder that just because you go to the best trial law firm, you may still end up with a lawyer who is only working in his best interest and he will manipulate you to settle because he isn't a good trial attorney. There are lawyers who win cases, and there are lawyers who are focused on seeking settlements because he doesn't want to go to trial.
Especially if you’re a gullible hillbilly who trusts people simply because they shave twice a day and go to church on Sunday.
They have zero intentions in fighting for you just settling and running out the clock for you to seek-hire other counsel.
@@jocelyngardner5711 painting all lawyers with the same brush is stupid 🙄
I watch the defense video when I can’t fall asleep.😂
Me too
These people are too intertwined. This one went to school with this one, this one is related to this one. Everyone is connected on a personal level and that complicates things. I also don’t believe that NOBODY had a clue about the theft It was covered up until it couldn’t be covered anymore.
Its Country life…..that town is so small.
@@4everu984 There is also the brotherhood aspect...freemasonry
Just like the grift that goes back to the original Murdaugh. They were all lawbreakers but powerful. Buster 2 got kicked out of the same law school his GGF went to for cheating. He expected it to be ignored but when the boat incident happened the school decided they didn't need the Murdaughs any more and gave him the boot.
Hampton county is a small area. By default, everybody knows everybody because few people ever actually leave. The thief went unnoticed because they knew each other for decades and trusted that everyone they lived and worked around were honest people. It’s the reason crimes in these small towns completely rattle those living there: they live in a false reality that they’re safe because they know their neighbors.
Look what happened with our trusting our highest medical authorities? We were also duped, though the red flags were there
She's a great witness! Answers the questions without delay, such a smart woman!
Every time someone says a woman’s place is in the home I think of women like My mom… Notorious RBG… certainly this amazing lady *and I want to say:*
🗣️ A woman’s place is wherever her feet take her❣️ To say women can’t be focused and AMAZING at home & work… makes me wonder how many women the person who perpetuated that myth *actually knows* ❓❗️
How many wars has the United States been in with *a man* at the helm❓ … 🅰️. *ALL OF THEM*
_I hope_ we elect a woman who knows _her place is in a HOUSE_ *…The WHITE HOUSE❣️*
Agree
Her and the prosecution practiced, practiced, practiced! Trust that
The look she gives him when she says “he stole the money”
IKR? Her side eye is classic! 🤣😑
Absolutely brilliant testimony from this Lady. Clear and concise while still managing to be captivating.
Oh wow this lady is sooo lucky to be alive, she was stepping on his toes bad! The look that he and his son gives her while she is testifying is horrific.
I’m new to the case…
He has a son who he let live❓ 😳
Were they like Don & Eric❓
*Or non politically speaking:*
_Did he “get rid” of the FREDO❓ …Or keep the FREDO❓_
Thank you Jenny! Honesty & Integrity 👍🙏
Definitely
THIS WITNESS HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR BECAUSE THE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS & CHECKS (no pun intended) AND BALANCES WERE SIMPLY NOT THERE ! Despite all of the large amount of money they handled - no one cared where it went to !
Notably, when Alex received IN ERROR A CHECK FROM THE FIRM FOR $120,000 - MEANT FOR HIS BROTHER, RANDY, ALSO A PARTNER IN THE FIRM - THE ERROR WAS REALISED - BUT THE CHECK MADE OUT TO ALEX WAS NOT CANCELLED - ENABLING HIM TO CASH IT MONTHS LATER ! !
AT BASE LEVEL - THEY DO NOT BALANCE THEIR BOOKS TO ENSURE WHAT PAYMENTS THEY MADE WERE CORRECTLY CASHED - AMOUNTS AND PAYEES ON CHEQUES COULD HAVE BEEN ALTERED EITHER BY LAWYERS OR CLIENTS ! ALEX WAS ABLE TO JUST TAKE CHECKS AND EITHER ALTER THEM AND CASH THEM IN PERSON - OR CASH THEM ELECTRONICALLY.
I THINK THE LACK OF INTEREST IN THE MONEY LEAVING THE COMPANY - BY THEIR TRUSTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER - WHO WILL HAVE RECEIVED A VERY GOOD SALARY IN HER SENIOR ROLE - WAS SUCH - THAT THE FIRM'S CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CASHED BY MICKEY MOUSE ! !
IT WAS ALL TOO COSY A SET UP !
🙄 There is nothing brave about this HIGHLY PAID PROFESSIONAL business woman giving her testimony - it is her duty ! - all the theft happened on her watch whilst she was CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE FIRM AND WAS BEING HIGHLY PAID TO HAVE SYSTEMS AND CHECKS IN PLACE TO PREVENT IT ! IT WAS A LOWLY PARALEGAL AND HER FELLOW PARALEGAL - WHO WERE HONEST AND DILIGENT AND DISCOVERED WHAT WAS, HAPPENING AND WOULD NOT LET IT DROP - SHE WAS BRAVE AND SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER ON THE WITNESS STAND !!
She's a shill
In the firm it was only Annette Griswold who unmasked the entire thing.
She did it TWICE.
And it wasn't even her job.
Yes!! 2 times she brought this to her attention. A simple peak at her bank statement would show her the fake Forge account and checks enforced by Murdaugh. But she didn't.
@@icannotpretend5834 Apparently when this woman gave evidence at trial of the (now sacked and found guilty of multiple crimes) head of "family owned" Palmetto bank....she said things that made it look as though she and several other members of PMPED were involved in the theft of client money. And could well end up charged soon also.
Which is hardly surprising. They only got REALLY mad at Alex Murdaugh when they found out that he stole from THEM.
He did three things with the money from the Forge account.
1. he paid the family credit card bills.
2. he wrote cheques to his family members
3. he wrote cheques to...HIS LAW FIRM PARTNERS.
So they'd seen the account existed, with his home address on it.
And his brother, the one in the law firm, was heavily involved in hiding Alex's assets.
He claimed Alex owed him money, and Alex wrote cheques for tens of thousands of dollars to him.
They all seem corrupt, except Ms Griswold.
🍻 Completely agree! Annette is amazing.
@@belleslettres354 I thought she wasn't given enough credit. I rather wonder if the other partners were, in truth, NOT happy about what she did. It seemed to me they sat on what she found out for as long as they could, hoping it would go away.
Especially Alex Murdaugh's brother - who quickly began grabbing assets from his brother's property and bank accounts and claiming them for himself.
What a family.
This is the lawfirm's CFO/COO. She was great. Watch starting at 52 minutes for the date/time when she confronted Alec with regards to money he was steeling from the firm. It happened on June 7 2021. The same day as he murdered Maggie and Paul. This entire testimony is quite enlightening. I think her name is Jeannie???