Nautilus Insurance Company V. Fleming Et Al

Case Background

On April 22, 2022, Nautilus Insurance Company (“Nautilus”), an insurance company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, filed an insurance fraud lawsuit against Richard Alexander Murdaugh, his attorney Cory Fleming, and several other Defendants claiming it was owed damages because it paid an insurance claim on false pretenses. The case was tried in the United States District Court, South Carolina (Charleston). Honorable Richard M. Gergel presided over this lawsuit. [Case Number: 2:22cv1307]

Cause

Nautilus issued a $5,000,000 umbrella policy to Richard Alexander Murdaugh, Sr., a licensed South Carolina attorney, for his Colleton County hunting lodge. Murdaugh filed a claim after his housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died on February 26, 2018, following a fall on February 2, 2018, at the property. Nautilus provided defense counsel and paid over $75,000 to settle claims by Satterfield’s estate. In July 2021, Nautilus discovered irregularities involving Murdaugh, his attorney friend Cory Fleming, and others. After Satterfield’s death, Murdaugh arranged for Fleming’s firm, Moss & Kuhn, P.A. (MKF), to represent her family in a claim against Murdaugh, as part of a scheme to fraudulently obtain insurance funds from Nautilus to cover debts in a Ponzi scheme. Murdaugh and Fleming orchestrated the fraud by involving Chad Westendorf as the personal representative of the estate, removing the Satterfields from the process. Funds from Nautilus were deposited into MKF’s trust account but were prematurely disbursed. Westendorf endorsed a $3.8 million check over to Fleming or MKF, who transferred it to a bank account controlled by Murdaugh under the name “Forge.” Despite instructions to hold the funds in trust, Fleming and MKF disbursed them improperly, violating fiduciary duties. The scheme continued, including a second payment in September 2020. Murdaugh and Fleming were suspended from law practice and criminally indicted. Nautilus filed this action after obtaining consent from court-appointed co-receivers managing Murdaugh’s assets.

Damages