Allegations of a long-running scheme to secretly funnel millions of dollars to extremists have been leveled against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a prominent nonprofit organization. Federal officials have accused the SPLC's former chief financial officer, Teenie Hutchison, and ex-Intelligence Project chief, Heidi Beirich, of creating a network of checking accounts to divert donations to sketchy groups, including one nicknamed "The Aryan Barbarian."
According to federal officials, Hutchison and Beirich allegedly created the accounts at Synovus Bank in 2008, making the bank a hub for diverting supporters' donations. The network ultimately supported secret payments to as many as 50 confidential "field sources," called "Fs," embedded within extremist organizations around the country. Some 13 field sources have been identified in court filings.
The SPLC's alleged operation involved using the accounts to pay informants while concealing the source of the money. Federal prosecutors allege that the accounts became the financial infrastructure supporting a sprawling money laundering operation. The network allegedly remained active for years, surviving leadership transitions and internal turmoil at the nonprofit.
One of the alleged recipients of secret SPLC payments was Erich Gliebe, a former neo-Nazi organization leader known as "The Aryan Barbarian." Gliebe allegedly received more than $140,000 from the SPLC between 2016 and 2023. At the same time, Gliebe was featured in SPLC materials describing extremist figures and organizations.
The alleged violations continued after Beirich's and Hutchison's tenures at SPLC. Court filings indicate that larger accounts associated with the alleged operation remained active until August 2020, when the hidden account structure finally drew scrutiny from bank officials. Synovus Bank did an internal investigation, according to court filings.
Former SPLC Chief Executive Officer Margaret Huang allegedly signed a letter acknowledging the operation to Synovus bank officials in September 2021. The nonprofit and its sister organization, the SPLC Action Fund, had hired Huang the year earlier. Huang's acknowledgment now sits near the center of the government's legal theory that the account structure wasn’t the work of rogue employees but operated under organizational authority.
The role of senior SPLC officials in this alleged operation raises significant red flags for law enforcement, federal officials say. Investigators describe an operation in which financial flows, informants, public content, and political work by the SPLC and its sister organizations were closely linked, with senior officials like Hutchison and Beirich positioned to control the money, narrative, and influence of the SPLC.
The court proceedings represent a form of vindication for some targets of the SPLC. A British Muslim reformer, Maajid Nawaz, who founded the Quilliam Foundation to combat Islamist extremism, sued the SPLC for defamation in 2018, winning a $3.375 million settlement and a public apology. Nawaz recently told Fox News Digital that the SPLC’s alleged system of paying extremists is corrupt and feels vindicated by the federal prosecution against the nonprofit.
