A former Southern Poverty Law Center official has been indicted in the federal probe of the SPLC’s alleged funding of hate groups.
Heidi L. Beirich, 59, of Palm Springs, California, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank, according to a Department of Justice news release. Beirich was arrested Wednesday in California.
Beirich was added as a defendant to a previous charge of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering that had been filed against the SPLC.
The SPLC was indicted in April on 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
BREAKING: Former Southern Poverty Law Center CFO arrested on fraud charges
Heidi Beirich, a former chief financial officer at the Southern Poverty Law Center, has been arrested in California on charges that she oversaw secret payments to informants inside of White supremacist… pic.twitter.com/f3LfzAPNIJ
— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) August 12, 2026
The second superseding indictment handed up Wednesday “alleges that, between 2007 and 2023, more than $4 million in donated funds were secretly funneled to individuals associated with various violent extremist groups,” the release said.
Will more SPLC leaders be arrested?
“The indictment unsealed today reflects the continued work of federal investigators and prosecutors in examining this alleged scheme,” U.S. Attorney Thomas Govan said. “We look forward to presenting the evidence in court and allowing the judicial process to determine the facts and the defendants’ responsibility for the alleged crimes.”
A CNN report said Beirich led the SPLC’s project tracking hate groups and allegedly “oversaw payments of donors’ money” to members of those groups, citing the indictment against Beirich.
The Department of Justice alleged that Beirich helped dole out money, some of which went to an Imperial Wizard in the KKK.
The indictment said that she allegedly had a romantic relationship with one SPLC source who supposedly infiltrated one white supremacist group and stole documents for the SPLC.
Prosecutors said Beirich shared a bank account with an individual who was on the receiving end of SPLC money that was routed through shell companies in hopes of hiding the payments.
🇺🇲 AG Todd Blanche confirmed that Former SPLC CFO Heidi Beirich was arrested this morning.
She was involved in secret payments to informants inside white supremacist groups, using fake company bank accounts and false descriptions.
The fraudulent NGO’s are collapsing!
Writer:…
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 12, 2026
“I believe she was part of the effort to open bank accounts in completely fictitious companies’ names and make payments to individuals for reasons that were not accurate as described,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
“This is exactly what we said would happen in a case like this, which is that our investigators and the U.S. attorneys and the agents working the case will keep on working it even after the initial indictment,” he added.
The indictment said an account held by Beirich and the individual had $140,000 worth of payments.
Following an FBI investigation with our DOJ partners: today we are announcing a superseding indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Director of Intelligence, Heidi Beirich.
As alleged, Heidi Beirich was at the center of our ongoing investigation into SPLC and their…
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) August 12, 2026
“Dr. Beirich is innocent, and this case is without merit,” her attorney, Michael J. Proctor, said in a statement.
“We believe the charges against her and the SPLC are politically motivated, and Dr. Beirich has been targeted in this case because of the important work she has done to combat hate groups and extremists,” he added.
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