SPLC Indicted on Federal Fraud Charges Over Paid Informant Use
The Southern Poverty Law Center has been indicted on federal fraud charges, accused of defrauding donors by using millions of dollars to secretly pay leaders of hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, for inside information. Prosecutors allege the SPLC funded the very extremism it claimed to fight, using funds from a disbanded informant program to pay individuals for intelligence on white supremacist activities. The indictment claims the SPLC made false statements to banks and created fictitious entities to conceal the true purpose of these payments, failing to disclose the informant program’s details to donors. The organization denies the allegations, stating its informant program saved lives and that it will vigorously defend itself.
John Q. Hosedrinker