Federal authorities have indicted and arrested a former executive of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) over an alleged scheme that diverted donor money to the very extremist groups the nonprofit claimed to fight. According to the indictment, the SPLC told donors and banks it was dismantling white supremacist and extremist groups, but instead funneled payments to confidential informants inside those groups to fund violent, racist and extremist activities.
The charges say the organization directed about $4.1 million in donor funds to extremists, with money used for KKK robes, cross burnings and member recruitment. The former official's arrest comes as federal prosecutors expand their case into the nonprofit's finances.