Former South Carolina legislator and lowcountry attorney indicted

Date: Nov. 18, 2025

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Charleston, SC — A federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment against Marvin Rashad Pendarvis of Charleston for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.

The indictment alleges that Pendarvis, who was a personal injury attorney licensed by the State of South Carolina and member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, pursued claims, filed lawsuits, and negotiated settlements on behalf of his clients and, in some instances, would forge client signatures and not pay clients any portion of the settlement funds. Through the scheme, Pendarvis received at least $532,000 in settlement funds to which he did not pay his clients any portion of the funds.

Pendarvis faces a maximum penalty of 20 years for the wire fraud and money laundering counts. Further, for each count of aggravated identity theft, Pendarvis faces a mandatory two-year term of imprisonment.

Pendarvis was arraigned by United States Magistrate Judge Molly Cherry on Nov. 18 and released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Bower and Whit Sowards are prosecuting the case.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.