Trending Now - DOJ Investigates Southern Poverty Law Center for Fraudulent Payments
WHO:
Fox News - The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), FBI Director Kash Patel, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
NBC News - Bryan Fair, interim chief executive of the SPLC.
WHAT:
Fox News - The SPLC is accused of paying approximately $270,000 to a member of the leadership group that planned the Unite the Right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, which resulted in the death of one person and injuries to dozens more.
Fox News - Between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC allegedly paid at least $3 million to eight individuals, three of whom were affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, National Socialist Movement, Aryan Nations affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, the Nationalist Socialist Party of America Nazis, and the American Front.
Fox News - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated, "It was doing the exact opposite of what it told its donors it was doing, not dismantling extremism, but funding it to carry out this scheme."
NY Post - FBI Director Kash Patel described the alleged fraud as a “widespread, decade-long multi-million dollar fraud” concealed through a “banking network.”
Fox News - The SPLC allegedly paid approximately $270,000 to a member of the leadership group that planned the Unite the Right protests, which resulted in one death and numerous injuries.
Fox News - The SPLC is accused of creating bank accounts in the names of at least five fictitious organizations with no legitimate business purpose.
Fox News - The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced formal charges against the SPLC for fraudulently paying members of extremist groups.
Fox News - A grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned an 11-count indictment against the SPLC, including six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Fox News - The SPLC allegedly paid at least $3 million to eight individuals between 2014 and 2023, including three affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups.
Fox News - The SPLC was accused of paying approximately $270,000 to a leader of the group that organized the Unite the Right protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
WHERE:
Fox News - The indictment was issued in the Middle District of Alabama.
Fox News - The Unite the Right protests occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia.
WHEN:
Fox News - The DOJ announced the charges on Tuesday, April 19th, 2026.
Fox News - The SPLC allegedly conducted the fraudulent payments from 2014 to 2023.
WHY:
Fox News - The DOJ claims the SPLC was "manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose" by funding extremist groups instead of dismantling them.
NBC News - Bryan Fair stated that the SPLC was being "targeted" by the Trump administration, suggesting political motivations behind the investigation.
HOW:
Fox News - The SPLC allegedly created bank accounts in the names of at least five completely fictitious organizations that had no bona fide employees or legitimate business purpose.
Fox News - The SPLC allegedly transferred funds through sham accounts and loaded them onto prepaid cards for members of extremist groups to conceal the source of the money.
Fox News - The FBI's investigation revealed that the SPLC set up shell companies to deceive financial institutions into believing that the funds were coming from fictitious entities rather than the SPLC.
Fox News - The SPLC allegedly created bank accounts in the names of fictitious organizations to conceal the source of funds.
Fox News - Funds were transferred through sham accounts and loaded onto prepaid cards for members of extremist groups, designed to hide the origin of the money.
(UPDATED April 22, 2026 03:58 UTC)
The Southern Poverty Law Center is facing serious allegations, including claims that it paid around $270,000 to a leader involved in the 2017 Unite the Right protests in Charlottesville, which resulted in one death and numerous injuries. Reports indicate that from 2014 to 2023, the SPLC allegedly disbursed at least $3 million to eight individuals, with ties to extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Movement. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche criticized the organization, stating it was funding extremism rather than dismantling it, and noted that the SPLC supposedly created bank accounts for at least five fictitious organizations with no legitimate purpose.
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(UPDATED April 22, 2026 01:22 UTC)
FBI Director Kash Patel has described an alleged fraud involving the SPLC as a “widespread, decade-long multi-million dollar fraud” that was concealed through a complex banking network. The SPLC is accused of transferring funds through sham accounts and loading them onto prepaid cards for members of extremist groups, while also creating bank accounts in the names of at least five fictitious organizations with no legitimate business purpose. Investigators found that the SPLC set up shell companies to mislead financial institutions into thinking the funds were coming from these non-existent entities rather than the organization itself.
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(UPDATED April 21, 2026 23:10 UTC)
The Department of Justice announced formal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center for fraudulently paying members of extremist groups on Sunday. A grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned an 11-count indictment, which includes six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The SPLC is accused of paying at least $3 million to eight individuals between 2014 and 2023, with payments allegedly made to members of the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist organizations. The indictment claims that the SPLC was "manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose" by funding these groups instead of dismantling them, a point emphasized by interim chief executive Bryan Fair, who suggested political motivations behind the investigation. The SPLC reportedly concealed the source of the funds by creating bank accounts in the names of fictitious organizations and transferring money through sham accounts.