I didn't follow the Lafitte trial but just coming across this article as I was looking for his sentencing date. What he did is disgusting for a banker. He took money for himself and for Murdaugh. He enabled Murdaugh.
"The morning started off with sisters Alaina Spohn and Hannah Plyler taking the stand. Laffitte is accused of taking money out of Hannah Plyler’s conservator account which contained money from settlements resulting from a deadly crash that killed their mother and brother in 2005. Both girls shared emotional testimony about the accident and what events followed.
Murdaugh won a settlement for the Plyler girls shortly after the crash. Since both girls were under the age of 18 at the time, Laffitte was appointed to oversee the money. Spohn said they were told that the settlement money “was enough money where I would never have to work a day in my life.”
Both sisters testified that they were each given a weekly allowance of $100 and had to request money from Russell personally for gas, clothing and food, while they were tossed between homes and Alaina even had to live out of her car at one point.
“Russell was like a father figure to me, but more on the logistics side,” Spohn said. “If I needed money for school or lunch money, I would call him but it was never on an emotional base.”
On Spohn’s 18th birthday, she said she met with Laffitte where he had boxes of documents to hand over to her.
“I remember thinking if he had all that documentation, I would think that everything would be OK,” she said.
Spohn lost her home, and with it, the conservatorship documents, to a fire in 2016. She requested copies of the documents from Laffitte, but said it wasn’t until an agent with the State Law Enforcement Division contacted her after Alex Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie; and their youngest son, Paul, were shot to death at the Murdaugh family’s rural property in Colleton County in June of 2021 that Laffitte turned over the documents.
“It raised a red flag that it took three years to receive the documents from Russell but it took SLED requesting it, for me to finally get it all,” she said.
Spohn now works in law enforcement and said she does not need to work because of the settlement.
“But I chose to work because I believe healed people are the best people to help hurting people,” she said.
Hannah Plyler was next on the stand and shared testimony to that of her sister. When Plyler turned 18, she said Laffitte handed over all the documents without explaining what was in the binders or what to do with all the money coming her way.
She said that she was never aware of the loans Laffitte was taking out of her account, which the next witness, FBI Forensic Accountant Cyndra Swinson, attested to.
Swinson reviewed bank accounts and checks from both Murdaugh and Laffitte. She testified Laffittee loaned himself $250,000 and used the money for his home improvements. Laffitte had $70 in his personal account at the time.
Another $90,000 loan taken out of the Plyler account was deposited into Murdaugh’s account after he had overdrawn his account by $3,000, Swinson said. Laffitte made 14 transfers from Plyler’s settlement account to Murdaugh while his account was overdrawn, Swinson said.
Laffitte continued extending loans and money orders from other conservatorship accounts to pay back the initial Plyler loans. "
More at link -
Week two of the trial for alleged Murdaugh conspirator and former CEO of Palmetto State Bank Russell Laffitte continued Monday as additional witnesses took the stand, including people who claim Laffitte stole from them.
www.live5news.com
What is also interesting is that this was a Lafitte family owned bank and Russell was fired by his cousin for these issues.
"An additional Laffitte family member, Becky Laffitte, Lucius’ sister and another PSB board member, was the last witness called on Monday. Once the board was informed about the loans, she was concerned and not happy about how the loans were handled.
She testified about her feelings when she decided to fire Russell from the bank.
“I had to set aside my family. We are very close family and we love each other dearly. It was probably one of the hardest things decisions I’ve ever had to make,” she said. “I owe it to my family, the bank and the loyal customers to make the decision that I had to make and I stand by it.” "
