The Josh Kimbrell lawsuit is a civil fraud case filed in July 2025 by his business partner Frank George Rogers, who accuses the South Carolina state senator of diverting more than $2 million from their private jet charter company, Exodus Aircraft LLC. Since the filing, Kimbrell has surrendered his ownership in the company under a consent order, been held in contempt of court for deleting thousands of emails, and suspended his 2026 campaign for governor.
Who Sued Josh Kimbrell and Why
Rogers filed suit in Greenville County’s Court of Common Pleas roughly two weeks after Kimbrell announced his gubernatorial candidacy.1The State. SC Senator Josh Kimbrell Fraud Lawsuit Rogers bought a 50% stake in Exodus Aircraft in 2022; Kimbrell founded the charter company in 2017 and served as its manager.2SC Daily Gazette. Kimbrell Josh Governor SC Business Partner Lawsuit Hearing Exodus Aircraft
The heart of the complaint is that Kimbrell created a separate entity, “Exodus Airways, LLC,” without Rogers’ knowledge, choosing a name close enough to the real company to trick customers and vendors into wiring payments to accounts Rogers could not see.3Spectrum Local News. South Carolina Senator Josh Kimbrell Fraud Lawsuit The suit calls the duplicate company a “sham” built to intercept charter revenue and route it into bank accounts Kimbrell controlled.4WSPA. Lawsuit Claims SC State Senator Stole Millions From Upstate Company The alleged scheme ran from October 2022 until the lawsuit was filed.
An amended complaint filed later in 2025 added Kimbrell’s wife, Liliya Shcherba Robertson Kimbrell, as a co-defendant, along with a banker, Thomas Blake Whitaker, who is accused of helping open the Exodus Airways account at Pinnacle Bank despite verification failures, and two Greenville County men, Richard A. Lackey and Jere Davis, accused of advising Kimbrell on how to hide diverted assets.5FITSNews. Kimbrell Amended Complaint
Where the Money Allegedly Went
The amended complaint attaches specific figures to the alleged diversions:
- About $234,865 sent to a firm called Platform Strategies LLC for Kimbrell’s political campaign between April 2020 and October 2024.
- More than $1.15 million in Exodus Aircraft proceeds redirected to the lookalike company’s bank account between late October 2024 and May 2025 alone.
- More than $300,000 in company funds used to pay Kimbrell’s personal credit cards between October 2022 and July 2025.
- Over $110,000 transferred to Liliya Kimbrell by PayPal, more than $155,000 to her personal accounts over roughly six years, and another $27,500 to her credit cards.
Those figures come from the plaintiffs’ pleading and have not been proven in court.5FITSNews. Kimbrell Amended Complaint
The Consent Order That Cost Kimbrell the Company
The case moved fast. On July 22, 2025, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Judge Perry H. Gravely approved a consent order in which Kimbrell agreed to surrender all ownership in Exodus Aircraft, resign as manager, hand over company credit cards and business records, and stop using the “Exodus” name.6Greenville Online. SC Gubernatorial Candidate Signs Consent Order Giving Up Company7FITSNews. Josh Kimbrell Saga Court Order Puts SC Senator on Defensive All company assets, including an Embraer jet, were transferred to Rogers. Kimbrell and the other defendants were also barred from contacting Exodus employees or customers and from destroying company records while the case is pending.
Kimbrell agreed to the order without a hearing but said publicly that it was “not an admission of merit” and called the lawsuit “a regrettable, uncorroborated case of lawfare” and “frivolous, absurd and political gamesmanship.”8WIS TV. SC Senator Surrenders Ownership Aircraft Company Amid Fraud Lawsuit
The Contempt Finding
Rogers’ attorneys soon returned to court arguing that the Kimbrells were violating the restraining order and injunction. A rule-to-show-cause hearing was held December 19, 2025, before Circuit Court Judge Vernon Dunbar. Neither Josh nor Liliya Kimbrell appeared. Their attorney, Doug Brannon, said the couple was not under subpoena and cited campaign obligations and a recent move.9FITSNews. Josh Kimbrell Court Drama Senator Skips Hearing Judge Mulls Contempt Order
Testimony at the hearing focused on deleted communications. Exodus financial controller Alicia Leonard testified that more than 2,000 emails were deleted from Liliya Kimbrell’s account shortly after the July 11, 2025, restraining order. Digital forensic expert Michael Sturgis confirmed deletions in both Kimbrells’ accounts.
On March 12, 2026, Judge Dunbar signed a 23-page order holding both Kimbrells in contempt, finding they had willfully violated the restraining order and injunction by deleting and transferring thousands of emails between July 14 and August 2, 2025. The order also detailed that Kimbrell forwarded confidential Exodus financial records to his personal email on the same day he signed the preliminary injunction and sent a company profit-and-loss statement to a third party before deleting the message.10FITSNews. SC Judge Holds State Senator in Contempt of Court The court rejected the defense that the Kimbrells had no obligation to appear because they were not subpoenaed, calling that argument “not legally viable, persuasive or applicable.”11FITSNews. Kimbrell Contempt Order
As sanctions, the court ordered the Kimbrells to pay $9,268.75 within 30 days to reimburse plaintiffs for forensic expert costs and to produce all previously requested documents in the same window, with a $250-per-day fine for any continued failure. Plaintiffs’ counsel was told to file an attorney-fee affidavit, opening the door to further financial penalties.11FITSNews. Kimbrell Contempt Order The judge did reject one piece of the contempt petition: he ruled that a December 16, 2025, op-ed Kimbrell published on FITSNews and a related Facebook video were protected by the First Amendment because they addressed public matters connected to his campaign.10FITSNews. SC Judge Holds State Senator in Contempt of Court
Kimbrell’s Response and Countermoves
Kimbrell has consistently said the fraud allegations are fabricated and politically timed to damage his run for governor. In his December 16, 2025, FITSNews op-ed, “Bloodsport Politics and the Price of Principle,” he called the lawsuit “persecution” driven by “envy and greed” and said it was filed “under false pretense and with no factual support.”12FITSNews. Josh Kimbrell Bloodsport Politics and the Price of Principle
He has also questioned the plaintiffs’ legal team. Rogers is represented by W. Walt Wilkins III, a former solicitor for South Carolina’s Thirteenth Judicial Circuit who resigned June 1, 2025, before taking the case. Kimbrell has called Wilkins’ involvement a conflict of interest and introduced legislation that would bar retired solicitors from practicing in their former districts for two years.13FITSNews. Embattled SC Senator Pushes Back at Former Prosecutor He filed a complaint with the South Carolina Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel alleging misconduct by Rogers’ attorneys.14FITSNews. Sources SC Senator Governor Candidate Josh Kimbrell Focus of Federal Inquiry
Kimbrell went further on April 17, 2026, filing his own defamation suit against Rogers, attorneys Wilkins and Lane W. Davis, and two other individuals, alleging they falsely accused him of crimes and theft. That case was dismissed after Kimbrell never served any of the defendants and then moved to dismiss it himself.15FOX Carolina. Sen Josh Kimbrells Defamation Lawsuit Against Firefighter Dismissed
How the Lawsuit Ended His Run for Governor
Kimbrell launched his gubernatorial campaign in late June 2025, and the fraud suit landed almost immediately. By his March 31, 2026, campaign finance report, he had raised roughly $80,000, while each of his Republican rivals had raised or self-funded millions.16SC Daily Gazette. SC GOP Senator Ends Bid for Governor Making It a 5-Way Race He polled last among the Republican candidates and was cut from the party’s final primary debate for missing a 5% polling threshold.17South Carolina Public Radio. Republican State Sen Josh Kimbrell Suspends Campaign for Governor
On June 3, 2026, Kimbrell suspended his campaign. He blamed the “nastiest politics I’ve ever experienced in my life” and the financial strain of the prolonged litigation, which he said forced him into debt and required him to sell his home. Because he missed the April 10 withdrawal deadline, his name stayed on the June 9 Republican primary ballot. He endorsed Attorney General Alan Wilson and said he intends to serve out his current Senate term, which runs through 2028.17South Carolina Public Radio. Republican State Sen Josh Kimbrell Suspends Campaign for Governor16SC Daily Gazette. SC GOP Senator Ends Bid for Governor Making It a 5-Way Race
The underlying fraud case remains pending.