South Carolina – A former South Carolina lawmaker and Lowcountry attorney is now facing federal charges after a grand jury charged him with ten different crimes. Marvin Rashad Pendarvis, 36, from Charleston, is charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering in connection with his job as a personal injury lawyer.
Federal prosecutors say that the indictment lists a number of events in which Pendarvis allegedly represented clients in injury cases, filed legal claims, and negotiated settlements, but did not pay the clients what they were entitled. Authorities said that in some cases, fake client signatures were used to finalize settlements, and then the entire funds were supposedly withheld instead of being given out. The accusation says that Pendarvis got more than $532,000 through this method, and none of that money went to clients.
The case has a lot of potential consequences. If Pendarvis is found guilty, he could spend up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud and money laundering. Also, every count of aggravated identity theft comes with a required two-year jail sentence that must be served in addition to any other sentence given.
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On November 18, Pendarvis went to federal court to be arraigned by U.S. Magistrate Judge Molly Cherry. He was let go on a $50,000 personal recognizance bail and is likely to come back as the judicial process continues along.
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The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division did the investigation that led to the indictment. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Bower and Whit Sowards are in charge of the prosecution.
