Cody Lee Anderson, 38, and Thomas Allen Bateman, 51, both of Aiken, South Carolina, have been sentenced to two years in federal prison each for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The sentencing follows an investigation into a scheme involving the execution of a will by an 88-year-old woman during the pandemic. The will left her entire estate, valued at about $20 million, to Bateman. Anderson was named as the personal representative and stood to receive a fee amounting to $1 million.
Evidence presented indicated that the elderly woman did not possess the mental capacity necessary to make informed decisions regarding her assets at the time the will was executed.
United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. imposed a sentence of 24 months’ imprisonment on Cody Lee Anderson, followed by three years of court-ordered supervision. Bateman received an identical sentence earlier this year. There is no parole in the federal system.
The FBI Columbia Field Office and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office Vulnerable Adults and Medicaid Provider Fraud unit (VAMPF) investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Matthews and Winston Holliday are prosecuting.
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