A Palm Springs woman has been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with wire fraud and conspiracy for her work with the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit group that studies extremism and hate groups.
Heidi Beirich, 59, was named in an indictment unsealed Wednesday as part of a federal investigation into the Alabama civil rights group, which has been heavily criticized by conservatives for its alleged political bias.
Beirich, who left the group six years ago, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank. At the center of the case, legal experts say, is a dispute over whether the SPLC's payments to informants inside hate groups were legitimate ways to gather intelligence
or a crime.
The DOJ had already indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center itself on 11 charges ranging from wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering, the DOJ's news release said.
“The indictment unsealed today reflects the continued work of federal investigators and prosecutors in examining this alleged scheme,” U.S. Attorney Thomas Govan said in the release. “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.”
Beirich was added as a defendant to the case and arrested Wednesday afternoon, according to a news release. She appeared in court that afternoon.
Media outlets including The Associated Press reported Beirich appeared in ankle cuffs, wearing a red t-shirt, for a bond hearing in Riverside on Wednesday. She did not enter a plea, although Judge David T. Bristow ordered her to surrender her passport and appear in court in Alabama in two weeks, The AP said.
"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," Beirich's lawyer, Michael Proctor said in a statement shared with USA TODAY.
Beirich worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center for more than 20 years, according to her LinkedIn profile. She left the group in 2019 to found the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.
She has become a noted expert in far-right extremism and testified before Congress on the topic, The AP reported.
Despite the indictment, SPLC said its work would continue.
"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. The actions taken by the DOJ will not shake our resolve," the group said in a statement to USA TODAY. "We remain steadfast in our fight for justice and in our commitment to ensuring the promise of the Civil Rights movement becomes a reality for all."
The DOJ alleges the Southern Poverty Law Center committed wire fraud when it sought donations to dismantle violent extremist groups, according to prior reporting by USA TODAY. The alleged fraud occurred because SPLC didn't tell donors the money would be used to pay high-level extremist group leaders to be informants.
The new indictment alleges that between 2003 and 2023, more than $4 million in donated funds were funneled to individuals in extremist groups.
Some legal experts have told USA TODAY the evidence presented by the government hasn't made clear the SPLC intentionally defrauded donors. The nuanced legal theory used by the Department of Justice could be difficult to prove in court, the experts said.
"Paying informants to then dismantle the organization seems like something that people would expect to be one of the tactics that are used, so that seems like a very weak case to me," Amy Markopoulos, a former federal prosecutor who spent years in the DOJ's fraud section, previously told USA TODAY in May.
Still, the case remains ongoing and the FBI continues to investigate the allegations.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Feds indict Palm Springs woman over SPLC's study of hate groups
