Carson Burney — Direct
252 linesJUDGE NEWMAN: Call your next witness.
MR. JAMES: The State calls Carson Burney.
The witness, CARSON BURNEY, was first duly sworn and testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: State your name again for the record. Spell your last name, please.
CARSON BURNEY: Carson Burney, B-u-r-n-e-y.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. JAMES:
MR. JAMES: Good morning, Mr. Burney.
CARSON BURNEY: Good morning.
MR. JAMES: It's still morning, just barely.
CARSON BURNEY: It is.
MR. JAMES: Where do you work, Mr. Burney?
CARSON BURNEY: I work for the South Carolina Attorney General's Office.
MR. JAMES: And what does your job entitle at the South Carolina Attorney General's Office?
CARSON BURNEY: I am the forensic accountant in the State Grand Jury Division.
MR. JAMES: And how long have you been a forensic accountant?
CARSON BURNEY: Approximately a year and a half.
MR. JAMES: All right, and what do you do as a forensic accountant for the State Grand Jury?
CARSON BURNEY: As a forensic accountant I identify, compile, analyze different financial records to include bank statements, credit card statements, loan documents. I also trace assets from source to ultimate disposition.
MR. JAMES: And what did you do prior to serving as a forensic accountant for the State Grand jury?
CARSON BURNEY: In 2019 I joined the South Carolina Department of Revenue as a sales tax auditor, and I was there for a little over two years.
MR. JAMES: There are a variety of other niceties, but because it's an in-camera hearing we'll cut straight to the chase. As a forensic accountant for the State Grand Jury Division, have you reviewed any documents in relation to a Richard Alexander Murdaugh?
CARSON BURNEY: I have.
MR. JAMES: And what sorts of documents have you reviewed in relation to that gentleman?
CARSON BURNEY: Similar documents, as I mentioned earlier, that would include bank statements, loan documents, wire information, money orders, and other various things.
MR. JAMES: And what were you asked to do in relation to those documents?
CARSON BURNEY: I was asked to trace the alleged stolen funds and ultimately show where the disposition of those funds ended up.
MR. JAMES: Now, you said trace. What is tracing from a 10,000 foot view?
CARSON BURNEY: Tracing is simply just following the fund. In this example, these are the alleged stolen checks. Primarily I went to the Forge account and following the money through to see where exactly it was ultimately spent out of those accounts.
MR. JAMES: And so in analyzing records and in coordination with law enforcement, were specific instruments identified and asked of you to trace where their ultimate disposition was?
CARSON BURNEY: I was.
MR. JAMES: Now when we say ultimate disposition, can you follow that same dollar forever and ever on to eternity, or is there sort of a line where you have to draw it and stop and say that's as far as we can go?
CARSON BURNEY: You have to draw a line. Obviously you could follow money forever, forever, and forever, but for the purposes of my analysis, I looked at when they ultimately went out of an account controlled by Alex Murdaugh.
MR. JAMES: Did you also draw any lines when they went into any sort of loan statement or credit card statement or anything like that?
CARSON BURNEY: That's correct. If there was a credit card payment, a payment, or a loan payment, I would stop there for that particular trace.
MR. JAMES: And have you prepared documents reflecting the conclusions that you reached upon tracing of those funds?
CARSON BURNEY: I have.
MR. JAMES: All right, and just very briefly, there's a variety of different ways to trace money. Is that correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct.
MR. JAMES: And just very quickly, which methodology did you apply in tracing the funds?
CARSON BURNEY: Right. So, you do have to have some rules when you are tracing funds to stay consistent, so the method I used was a first in, first out method.
MR. JAMES: And what is the first in, first out method?
CARSON BURNEY: It's exactly like the name implies: the first money into an account would be the first money out of an account.
MR. JAMES: I'm showing you a document that's been labeled for the purposes of this in-camera proceeding as State's Exhibit 373. Very briefly, do you recognize this document?
CARSON BURNEY: I do.
MR. JAMES: What is it?
CARSON BURNEY: This is a tracing of funds regarding the $792,000 with the Faris case.
MR. JAMES: And, Mr. Burney, can you see that?
CARSON BURNEY: I can.
MR. JAMES: All right, and so explain very briefly here at the top, what is this green table at the top?
CARSON BURNEY: The green table at the top indicates the three instruments I was tracing. So, the first being a check in the amount of $192,000, with a date, or a negotiated date of March 10, 2021. Second, a $375,000 instrument that was ultimately negotiated on March 23, 2021. And the last is an instrument in the amount of $225,000 that was ultimately negotiated on April 20, 2021. And there you can see the bank number, account number that it was deposited into.
MR. JAMES: And what were the last four digits of that bank account that it was deposited into?
CARSON BURNEY: 6779.
MR. JAMES: And what was the descriptive holder of that account?
CARSON BURNEY: Alex Murdaugh.
MR. JAMES: And what's that next column, the front column?
CARSON BURNEY: The front column is where the check was from, and you can see it was the Wilson Law Group IOLTA account.
MR. JAMES: And in preparing this document, did you have to review a considerable amount of bank records in order to prepare?
CARSON BURNEY: A lot of bank records, yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: A lot of bank records.
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: And specific instruments, correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct.
MR. JAMES: And down here below, what is this blue table?
CARSON BURNEY: The blue table is a pivot table, which is just a summary in Excel that shows the ultimate disposition of where that money went. And you can see at the bottom it will total out to the initial amount of money that went in.
MR. JAMES: All right, and not to pile on any -- too many specific transactions because we are in an in-camera hearing, but we have here for example, C.E. Smith $507,561.63, and then the number 26 next to that. Can you briefly explain what those columns stand for?
CARSON BURNEY: So the first column, you can see where it came out of the bank account. Those descriptors are what was written on the check, or what was done with the check as you can see with cash withdrawal. And then the total amount is in the total column, and then finally you have the number of checks in the last column.
MR. JAMES: And then another name that we have here is what appears to be the name of an attorney in the amount of $150,000. Am I reading that correctly?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct.
MR. JAMES: And then we have it broken down into two separate subsections. What is the distinction between those two different subsections?
CARSON BURNEY: Just different bank accounts where the money was ultimately disposed. Money would transfer from one bank account to another bank account, so I would try to differentiate those two different accounts.
MR. JAMES: And I jumped ahead of myself a little bit getting into this first tracing exhibit, but generally speaking, upon your review of all of the different bank accounts associated with Alex Murdaugh, what was the general flow of funds? Did they primarily go into one bank account, or did they go into one bank account and then into others? Or how did it work?
CARSON BURNEY: So with the Forge checks, typically they would transfer out to other accounts. Alex Murdaugh had a few different Bank of America accounts in addition to the Palmetto State Bank accounts; they would go over there as well.
MR. JAMES: So, he had a bank account at Bank of America that was labeled Richard Alexander Murdaugh Forge. Is that correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct.
MR. JAMES: And did he also have another bank account at Bank of America that didn't have any mention of Forge? Is that correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That's correct. The second bank account you're talking about seemed -- appeared to be a personal checking account just in his name.
MR. JAMES: And so would money go into one account and then into that checking account, or would money go into directly that checking account, or both?
CARSON BURNEY: So, it depends on the instrument. For example, these three checks went into his personal checking account because they were named to Richard Alexander Murdaugh.
MR. JAMES: So, here coming out of that Bank of America account ending 6779 -- it is the checking account -- ultimately 747,000 out of the $792,000 was disbursed. Is that correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct.
MR. JAMES: And then am I -- and how much was disbursed after being transferred into Palmetto State Bank account 6092?
CARSON BURNEY: $42,000.
MR. JAMES: 6092, is that a particularly active account for Mr. Murdaugh?
CARSON BURNEY: It is. It's one of his most active accounts at Palmetto State Bank.
MR. JAMES: And then a little bit further down here we have something that's labeled PSB 1646, Alex Murdaugh farm. What was that account?
CARSON BURNEY: That was -- it's just labeled a farm account and it -- from just looking at account records, it seems to primarily deal with the farm being Moselle property.
MR. JAMES: And how much money of these Faris fees was disbursed out of that farm account?
CARSON BURNEY: $3,000.
MR. JAMES: And in looking behind that facial summary page -- we're not going to go through line by line here, but we have every single individual transaction that is summarized in that coverage -- that pivot table. Is that correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct. Some of the details I would include on those pivot tables: if there's a date on the check, the date it was negotiated, the amount, and the account number.
MR. JAMES: And then what we're looking at here, the $192,000, is that one of the instruments you were tracing?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: And then this next case, 375,000, is that one of the instruments?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes.
MR. JAMES: And then the next page, the $225,000, is that one of the instruments?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: Mr. Burney, I'm showing you a document labeled at this time as State's Exhibit 374. Do you recognize this document?
CARSON BURNEY: I do.
MR. JAMES: What is it?
CARSON BURNEY: This is a tracing summary for a check in the amount of $403,500 from the Moss, Kuhn, and Fleming client trust account.
MR. JAMES: Is this identified in common parlance as Satterfield money?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes.
MR. JAMES: It's a little bit tiny; let's see if I can zoom in just a bit. Oh never mind, we'll just stick with this. All right. So, on what date was that $403,000 deposited?
CARSON BURNEY: January 9, 2019.
MR. JAMES: And I said the number, but how much money are we talking here?
CARSON BURNEY: $403,500.
MR. JAMES: All right, and then how much was ultimately -- into what account was it deposited?
CARSON BURNEY: It was deposited into the Forge account ending in 7625.
MR. JAMES: And in descriptive terms, which account is that?
CARSON BURNEY: The Forge account.
MR. JAMES: The fake Forge Account?
CARSON BURNEY: That was DB -- yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: All right, and from that account was any -- were any funds ultimately disbursed?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes.
MR. JAMES: How much?
CARSON BURNEY: 7625. You can see a cash withdrawal in the amount of $12,500 over two different transactions.
MR. JAMES: But otherwise was that money moved into other accounts?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes. Primarily, yes.
MR. JAMES: And from the Bank of America checking account, how much money was ultimately disbursed?
CARSON BURNEY: $3,970.07.
MR. JAMES: And then was that money further transferred into other accounts?
CARSON BURNEY: It was.
MR. JAMES: Which account was that primarily transferred into?
CARSON BURNEY: Into the account ending in 6092 at Palmetto State Bank.
MR. JAMES: And out of that Palmetto State Bank account, how much money was ultimately disbursed?
CARSON BURNEY: If you could move it down a little bit. There we go. It looks like $387,029.93.
MR. JAMES: I'm not going to go through all of these payments that were made, but there's a cluster of payments here at the top: payment to loan, payment to loan, payment to loan. What are those, generally speaking?
CARSON BURNEY: Those are loans that were held at Palmetto State Bank that were under Alex's name, at least some of them in part, some of them in -- in -- solely him.
MR. JAMES: And these items in parenthesis, are those just sort of descriptors of those particular loans?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes. They're from my notes so I could identify which loan number went to which loan.
MR. JAMES: And you specifically reviewed the loan documents in relation to each of these loans, correct?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: So, you're familiar with the supporting documentation for what the required collateral --
CARSON BURNEY: Yes.
MR. JAMES: So, here at the top we have a loan for Red Beard, correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct.
MR. JAMES: And a payment on that in the amount of 47,000 and some odd dollars?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: And then for Zero United in the amount of $55,684 and some change. Is that correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct.
MR. JAMES: And then a payment on a Moselle loan. Is that correct?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: And how much was that loan?
CARSON BURNEY: $65,238.92.
MR. JAMES: And then a payment on a GMC Yukon, how much was that payment?
CARSON BURNEY: $75,099.35.
MR. JAMES: And how much was paid on this Moselle note?
CARSON BURNEY: $104,056.51.
MR. JAMES: And then once again as before in these yellow tables, you have the specific transactions that you traced using that percent for a stop method, correct?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: And is this the instrument that you traced?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: I'm showing you a document labeled as State's Exhibit 375. Do you recognize this document?
CARSON BURNEY: I do.
MR. JAMES: And what is it?
CARSON BURNEY: This is a tracing summary of a check from the Moss, Kuhn, and Fleming client trust account roughly in the amount of $2.9 million.
MR. JAMES: And when was the -- this instrument deposited?
CARSON BURNEY: That was May 15, 2019.
MR. JAMES: And you indicated it was roughly $2.9 million?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: And into what account was it deposited?
CARSON BURNEY: Into a Forge account ending in 7625.
MR. JAMES: And here we have a summary table of all of the various expenses of that $2.9 million funded and the sum total. This first account appears to be the farm account. How much money was ultimately disbursed from the farm account?
CARSON BURNEY: $147,247.
MR. JAMES: And this next one would be for the checking account. Is that correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct, ending in 6092.
MR. JAMES: And how much money -- those are long ones. We have to flip over. How much money was ultimately disbursed from that checking account?
CARSON BURNEY: $1,429,753.
MR. JAMES: And this next one says 6649. Is that an additional account at Palmetto State Bank?
CARSON BURNEY: That is another checking account under the name of Alex Murdaugh.
MR. JAMES: And how much ultimately was disbursed from that account?
CARSON BURNEY: $13,000.
MR. JAMES: And then we have 6779, OPA. Is that a checking account at the Bank of America?
CARSON BURNEY: That is a personal checking account at Bank of America.
MR. JAMES: And how much was ultimately disbursed from that account?
CARSON BURNEY: If you scoot it up just a hair.
MR. JAMES: I keep looking down and you keep looking up, my bad.
CARSON BURNEY: $1,208,449.89.
MR. JAMES: All right, and to identify just a handful of specific transactions, or specific individuals who received some of them here, we have a C.E. Smith. Is -- we actually have a variety of names here. In reviewing the instruments, did you see any sort of pattern of differentiation of checks all going to the same person?
CARSON BURNEY: I did. I saw different names. Just off the top of my head, it was over ten different variations of that name.
MR. JAMES: Okay, but all of those different variations, to your understanding and working with law enforcement, who is your understanding all of those checks refer to?
CARSON BURNEY: Curtis Edward Smith.
MR. JAMES: So, here we have one that says C.E. Smith, and then how much coming out of this money to him?
CARSON BURNEY: So under the name C.E. Smith, $132,687.03.
MR. JAMES: And over how many instruments was that money effectuated?
CARSON BURNEY: Twenty-four different instruments.
MR. JAMES: And then a little bit further down we have a Curtis E. Smith, and if I can read the lines correctly, how much money was disbursed under that name?
CARSON BURNEY: $56,765.48.
MR. JAMES: And over how many instruments?
CARSON BURNEY: Your highlighter is covering it, but twelve.
MR. JAMES: And the next name down, Curtis Eddie Smith?
CARSON BURNEY: $6,404.
MR. JAMES: And that was a single instrument?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: Curtis Edward Smith.
CARSON BURNEY: $4,725 over one instrument.
MR. JAMES: Okay, and Curtis Smith?
CARSON BURNEY: Curtis Smith, $23,823.03, over four different instruments.
MR. JAMES: We additionally had a payment to a credit card here in the amount of how much?
CARSON BURNEY: $7,570.50.
MR. JAMES: And did you ultimately get the records of that credit card?
CARSON BURNEY: I did.
MR. JAMES: Did you attempt to trace any further specific purposes that money went to?
CARSON BURNEY: I did not. I just ended at the payment to the credit card for my own sanity primarily.
MR. JAMES: And here we have Randolph Murdaugh, III. How much money went to Mr. Murdaugh?
CARSON BURNEY: It was $385,000 in one instrument.
MR. JAMES: And then additionally right below that we have the name Scott Harriott. How much money went to Mr. Harriott?
CARSON BURNEY: $84 over one instrument.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Would counsel approach?
(A bench conference was held with the judge and attorneys off the record.)
MR. JAMES: Your Honor, we'll see if we can accelerate this process a little bit.
MR. JAMES: Mr. Burney, I have handed you a series of exhibits starting with State's 376 and ending in State's 397. Do you recognize these documents?
CARSON BURNEY: I do.
MR. JAMES: And are all of these exhibits from 376 to 397 documents that you prepared tracing the flow of funds from instruments involving money going through the Forge account through checks negotiated in the name of Palmetto State Bank, and from the Faris fees from the Mack Truck case?
CARSON BURNEY: Yes, sir.
MR. JAMES: And I think we actually already got through the Faris fees in the Mack Truck case, so these would be what went through the Forge account, correct?
CARSON BURNEY: Through the Forge account. There's some Palmetto State Bank checks in there as well in addition to -- I believe there might be a check or two in the name of Alex Murdaugh in there.
MR. JAMES: And throughout all of these tracings and all of these summaries, did they reflect that the money that Mr. Murdaugh took went to his personal use and benefit?
CARSON BURNEY: They do.
MR. JAMES: And these are ordered in, roughly speaking, reverse chronological order, correct?
CARSON BURNEY: Correct.
MR. JAMES: Going from 2021 all the way back to a date of deposit on December 20, 2011. Is that correct?
CARSON BURNEY: That is correct.
MR. JAMES: Your Honor, if I understood correctly after briefly conferring with counsel for the defendant, that they would be willing for the purposes of this hearing to stipulate to the admissibility of these documents for the Court's in-camera review. Have I stated that correctly?
MR. GRIFFIN: You have.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. So, stipulated.
MR. JAMES: Your Honor, in the interest of time, I would present these documents to the Court as admitted.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Can you give the -- provide the original to the court reporters and provide the Court a copy of them?
MR. JAMES: Yes, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. Very good.
MR. JAMES: And that would be no further questions.
MR. GRIFFIN: We have no questions, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. Thank you, sir.
(The witness exited the stand.)
(TRACE SUMMARY MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBER 373 FOR IN-CAMERA PURPOSES ONLY.)
(TRACE DOCUMENTS INDIVIDUALLY MARKED AS STATE'S EXHIBIT NUMBERS 374 THROUGH 397 FOR IN-CAMERA PURPOSES ONLY.)
IN-CAMERA HEARING CONCLUDED
JUDGE NEWMAN: Is the State ready for the jury, the State and the defense?
MR. WATERS: Your Honor, one moment, please.
(Break in proceedings.)
MR. WATERS: He's on his way right now, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right.
(Break in proceedings.)
JUDGE NEWMAN: Are we ready for the jury?
MR. WATERS: Yes, sir, Your Honor.
MR. GRIFFIN: Yes, Your Honor.
JUDGE NEWMAN: All right. If you'll bring the jury. And in anticipation for the jury, we will stand for a minute.
(Break in proceedings.)
(The jury returned to the courtroom.)
COURT BAILIFF: The jury is present, sir.
JUDGE NEWMAN: Thank you. Be seated. All right. Good morning.
(The jury responded good morning.)