Ex-Southern Poverty Law Center CFO Indicted in Scheme to Secretly Pay White Supremacist Informants
Heidi Beirich, who served as the civil rights organization’s CFO and directed its Intelligence Project between 2012 and 2019, made her initial appearance in federal court in Riverside, California, according to her defense attorney Michael Proctor.
The 26-page superseding indictment was filed in the Middle District of Alabama following an investigation by the Justice Department and the FBI. Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the arrest during a news conference at DOJ headquarters in Washington, stating that investigators uncovered a multi-year operation involving financial crimes.
“There is a new indictment that includes the former CFO of SPLC,” Blanche told reporters, adding that an arrest had been made, though Beirich’s legal counsel maintained she appeared in court voluntarily.
Defense attorney Michael Proctor rejected the allegations, asserting in a statement that “Dr. Beirich is innocent, and this case is without merit.” Proctor added, “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.”
Federal Allegations and Financial Scheme
According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the ongoing federal investigation revealed that the SPLC “knowingly misled donors, who believed their money was being used to dismantle violent extremist organizations—when in fact, part of those donations were instead being used to pay senior leadership within those extremist groups.”
The indictment details a complex conspiracy involving wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. Investigators allege that Beirich helped funnel $1.2 million in donor money to an informant within the West Virginia-headquartered white identarian group National Alliance, who the filing identifies as her romantic partner. The court documents state that Beirich and the informant, designated as “F-9,” shared joint bank accounts and a residence over a 20-year period.
Federal prosecutors assert that in 2014, an employee who would later become the Director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project paid informant F-9 to break into National Alliance headquarters. The operative allegedly stole 25 boxes of documents, which were subsequently used to author an article for the SPLC’s blog “Hatewatch” titled “Chaos at the Compound.” The indictment notes that the article was deployed to solicit further donations for the nonprofit.
A second informant, identified in the indictment as F-39 and previously named by reporters as former National Alliance member Randolph Dilloway, was reportedly paid $6,000 in donor cash to falsely take responsibility for the burglary.
Broader Legal Action Against the SPLC
The charges against Beirich expand upon an earlier 11-count indictment announced by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, which formally targeted the 55-year-old Montgomery, Alabama-based organization itself. That indictment alleges that between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC secretly funneled more than $3 million to field sources affiliated with groups including the Ku Klux Klan, the National Socialist Movement, and the American Front.
Federal prosecutors contend that the organization attempted to conceal the transactions by opening bank accounts connected to a series of fictitious entities and shell companies. Blanche stated at a news conference that the inquiry found the organization had been “manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred” and subsequently hiding the expenditures.
In response to the broader organizational charges, SPLC interim chief executive Bryan Fair issued a statement expressing outrage over what he termed false allegations. Fair defended the nonprofit’s historical mission, noting that confidential sources frequently risked their lives to infiltrate radical extremist groups and provided intelligence to federal law enforcement.
“Taking on violent hate and extremist groups is among the most dangerous work there is, and we believe it is also among the most important work we do,” Fair said, adding that the organization views the federal actions as politically targeted by the administration.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Emily Marks in the Middle District of Alabama. Legal proceedings are ongoing as defense counsel prepares for further hearings in California and Alabama.