by WILL FOLKS
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Former South Carolina state representative Marvin Pendarvis pleaded guilty in federal court this week to nine federal charges tied to fraudulent settlements that involved dozens of clients and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Pendarvis, 36, of North Charleston, S.C., was charged last fall by prosecutors in the office of U.S. attorney Bryan Stirling with four counts of wire fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of money laundering and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity.
According to prosecutors (.pdf), between 2022 and 2024 Pendarvis “knowingly devised and intended to devise a scheme to defraud his clients and to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses.” Specifically, he “represented certain individuals who had been injured and/or suffered loss,” per the charges. Unbeknownst to these clients, he allegedly “negotiated settlements on (their) behalf… but failed to inform (them) that a settlement had been obtained and/or informed (them) that the settlement was for less than had actually been received.”
In some of these cases, Pendarvis “fraudulently signed the client’s names on settlement releases with an insurance company” and “filed settlement documents with the clerk of court without his clients’ knowledge and/or approval of the settlement,” per the indictments.
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The schemes netted Pendarvis at least $532,000, prosecutors said last fall – although that estimate has increased to $800,000, per Stirling’s remarks in court on Wednesday (October 7, 2026).
Pendarvis “exploited” his victims at vulnerable times in their lives, the state’s top federal prosecutor said.
“He used that to his advantage to move money around,” Stirling added.
Pendarvis’ fall from grace began in April 2024 when he was slapped with a civil lawsuit accusing him of settling a specific case without his client’s knowledge or permission, forging his client’s signature on the settlement documents and then trying to bribe the former client after he got caught.
“How much you need the check for?” Pendarvis wrote in one message to his former client. “Answer the question, man. How much?”
“Let’s handle this shit,” Pendarvis wrote in another message. “You’re not telling me what you need.”
At one point, Pendarvis showed up at the former client’s residence with a duffel bag full of cash and a check sufficient to satisfy the loan amount on his mortgage.
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RELATED | FEDS PICK UP THE SLACK
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That civil filing – which we were told at the time tied into a much broader story involving Pendarvis – sparked a criminal investigation by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED). It also sparked the federal probe which led to the charges filed last fall.
Amid these scandals, the S.C. supreme court suspended his law license on May 17, 2024 and Pendarvis resigned his seat in the S.C. General Assembly on September 16, 2024 – news of which broke three days later. Curiously, because his name remained on the ballot, Pendarvis was reelected to his seat with 97.3% of the vote in November 2024 – although he posted a belated formal resignation letter shortly thereafter.
Pendarvis will spend at least two (2) years in federal prison thanks to mandatory minimums tied to the charges to which he has pleaded guilty. He could face up to twenty (20) years in prison and more than $500,000 in fines, in addition to any outstanding restitution.
Stay tuned to FITSNews for details on his sentencing…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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