The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has been indicted on federal fraud charges, including wire fraud and bank fraud, over allegations it misused donor funds to pay confidential informants infiltrating extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Prosecutors claim the organization funneled more than $3 million through fake entities between 2014 and 2023 and misled donors and banks about how the money was used.

SPLC leadership denies wrongdoing, arguing the informant program was used to monitor violent hate groups and protect public safety.

Federal officials say the group instead improperly funded extremists, while critics of the case argue the charges are difficult to prove and politically motivated, The Guardian has reported.

The SPLC has vowed to fight the indictment, calling it an attack on civil rights work and its mission to combat extremism.