Heidi Beirich, who served as the SPLC's chief financial officer, was expected to make her initial court appearance in Riverside, California, later in the day.
Court records indicate Beirich is charged with wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the charge at a news briefing in Washington, but did not name Bierich.
Beirich’s lawyer, Michael Proctor, confirmed that she was charged in the government’s existing case against the SPLC in Montgomery, Alabama.
Beirich led the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, which incurred the anger of conservatives with its annual report on organizations that it classified as hate groups. Critics accused the law center of unfairly tarnishing conservative groups with the same label that it applied to white supremacists.
