A high-ranking Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) employee allegedly redirected donor money to an informant in a “neo-Nazi” organization with whom she had a romantic relationship.
The Justice Department (DOJ) released a superseding indictment on June 2 alleging that an informant known as “F-9” had secretly received over $1.2 million in donor money from SPLC. “Employee-2” oversaw these payments, which F-9 allegedly used to infiltrate the white supremacist group National Alliance. While F-9 received donor money through a “Tech Writers” bank account, he was raising money to support the extremist activities of the “neo-Nazi” organization, according to the indictment. (RELATED: DOJ Says Left Wing Activist Group Employee Dated Informant In Neo-Nazi Group)
The indictment also alleged that “Employee-2” and “F-9” were in a romantic relationship at the time, sharing both a house and two bank accounts. Approximately $140,000 of the money F-9 received ultimately ended up in their joint bank accounts, and “Employee-2” used it to pay their personal living expenses, according to the document. The $140,000 made up an estimated 66 percent of the money deposited in the accounts, the indictment said.
“Employee-2” is now “believed to be Heidi Beirich,” The New York Post reported, referencing information included in the superseding indictment that points to Beirich’s identity. The indictment described “Employee-2” as “the person who would become Director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project.” Beirich served as the director of intelligence at SPLC from 2012-2019, according to The Post
Beirich wrote an article in 2015 on “Hatewatch” describing allegations of embezzlement, money laundering and tax fraud against the white supremacist group National Alliance. The New York Post connected this to details in the indictment.
“In 2014, F-9 broke into the headquarters of an extremist organization and stole approximately 25 boxes of documents,” the indictment read. The informant allegedly transported these documents from West Virginia to North Carolina and used donor money to copy the documents before breaking into headquarters to return them.
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 29: Richard Cohen, President of the Southern Poverty Law Center, speaks during a press conference November 29, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“Employee-2 used the copies, knowing they were stolen, as the basis for a story published on ‘Hatewatch,’” the indictment continued. “The SPLC used this story to solicit more donations.”
William White Williams, the National Alliance chairman, confirmed that information in the indictment corresponded with what his group had experienced, according to The Post. “I knew it was that fat, ugly hog Heidi Beirich,” Williams told the outlet.
“I think some of those cluckers wanted to get out of the movement and they went to the SPLC for help. But instead of helping them, [the SPLC] said, ‘Why don’t you stay in and get paid?’” he added.
Williams told The Post that the identity of “F-9” remains a mystery.
Beirich, 58, is “an expert on the American and European far right, including white supremacist, anti-immigrant, anti-government, and other extremist movements,” according to the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism webpage, a group she helped co-found. Beirich started with SPLC in 1999, rising in the ranks to become the director of the Intelligence Project in 2012. Beirich departed from SPLC in 2019 with several other top officials, who left in response to accusations of sexual harassment and racism, according to The Post. Beirich was not publicly involved in these accusations, the outlet said.
Beirich co-founded the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism in 2020 “to monitor and counter increasingly transnational hate movements,” according to the webpage.
The Daily Caller reached out to Beirich for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
The superseding indictment further alleges that the SPLC refunded Ku Klux Klan members for money spent on cross-burning and making Klan uniforms. This Alabama-based group is also facing charges of wire fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The organization could have to forfeit assets associated with the alleged plot if it is convicted.
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