Former SPLC finance chief pleads not guilty to donor fraud conspiracy

Heidi Beirich, who previously served as chief financial officer and director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, pleaded not guilty to a federal conspiracy indictment covering wire fraud, false bank statements and money-laundering. Her lawyer Michael Proctor entered the plea on her behalf in the Middle District of Alabama, describing the charges as politically motivated. The superseding indictment alleges that Beirich oversaw a network of fictitious entities used to conceal donor-funded payments exceeding $4 million to informants embedded in neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups between 2007 and 2023.

Among the alleged schemes, roughly $140,000 was transferred from an SPLC account through a sham business into joint accounts shared with a source identified as “F-9,” with whom Beirich is said to have had a romantic relationship. The SPLC’s own bid to dismiss the case was rejected by U.S. District Judge Emily Marks earlier this month. The trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 5, unless further pre-trial motions cause delays.