A federal grand jury in Columbia, South Carolina on Tuesday returned a three-count superseding indictment against prominent Aiken businessmen Cody Lee Anderson, 37, and Thomas Allen Bateman Jr., 50, for bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Anderson and Bateman face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and will make a first appearance and be arraigned on July 31, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina.
The indictment alleges Anderson and Bateman enticed an elderly woman to leave all her assets to Bateman through a will that designated Anderson as her personal representative, according to the release. At the time, noted authorities, she did not have the mental capacity to make a knowing and voluntary decision regarding her assets.
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Lawsuit that uncovered the alleged scheme
A lawsuit was filed on behalf of 88-year-old Mary Margaret Wenzel Crandall's estate in 2022, claiming Anderson, Bateman and George Funeral Home tried to swindle her out of her more than $8 million estate while she was planning her husband's funeral in 2012. Anderson owns George Funeral Home and Bateman is the former director.
Crandall, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2018, was allegedly talked into executing a new will in 2020, naming Anderson as personal representative and Bateman as sole beneficiary of the estate, according to the suit.
The lawsuit alleged that within a year of the appointment, Anderson and Bateman created an illegitimate will, had her sign it in duress, and isolated her from friends and family – leaving her with no access to her financial assets, according to court documents.
It also claimed Anderson tried to empty and sell Crandall's home prior to her death, according to court documents.
Crandall’s certified public accountant, Wanda Scott, and Ray Massey, who drafted Crandall's 2001 will, filed a lawsuit in 2022 after her death, and the court later found the 2020 will was illegitimate, according to court documents.
With the original 2001 will reinstated, beneficiaries included Augusta Genealogical Society, Crandall Family Association, Heritage Center Museum, Our Lady of the Valley Roman Catholic Church, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, South Carolina Nature Conservatory, The Hotchkiss School and more.
In an interview with The Aiken Standard in 2022, the men's attorney, John Harte, said Bateman was "doing what he thought was a Christian thing to do."
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