Two South Carolina men attempted to steal a dead woman’s estate worth $8 million, according to the federal government’s indictment

A federal grand jury in Columbia has indicted two Aiken men on charges of allegedly committing $8 million in inheritance fraud in an attempt to steal the fortune of an 88-year-old widow.

The federal indictment did not specify the exact amount, but civil lawsuits filed in the same inheritance case in Aiken County court said the amount involved in the scheme was at least $8 million.

Thomas Lee Bateman Jr., 50, and Cody Lee Anderson, 37, both of Aiken, were charged this week with conspiracy to commit fraud and two counts of bank fraud, according to the federal indictment.

Anderson’s attorney Greg Harris and Bateman’s attorney Marion Moses declined to comment.

A federal grand jury indicted Bateman earlier this year on bank fraud charges related to the plot. This week’s new indictment retained the bank fraud charges and added Anderson as a named defendant. Both men were also charged with conspiracy.

Bateman and Anderson are accused of plotting to get the woman to sign a will that would give them her money.

According to civil lawsuits in the matter and news reports, the money was never transferred to the two men. A lawsuit challenging the new will of Margaret Crandall, the widow of a wealthy nuclear scientist, was settled in 2022, with the two men relinquishing any claim to Crandall’s fortune and admitting no wrongdoing, according to news reports.

The federal indictment says Crandall, identified only as MC, initially made a will in 2001 that left all of her assets to her husband, but if he died before her, the money would go to charities and friends. Her husband died in 2012, and in 2018 she moved into Shadow Oaks, an assisted living facility in Aiken.

Bateman had power of attorney from 2019 until Crandall’s death in January 2022, and Anderson was the operator of George Funeral Home in Aiken, the indictment says.

Before and after Crandall’s death, Bateman and Anderson hatched a plan to get Crandall to sign a new will that would overturn the old will and leave the two men all of their assets, the indictment says.

Anderson wrote the new will, which made him the personal representative of Crandall’s estate, the indictment says. As personal representative, he would have been entitled to 5% of the estate’s assets, or about $400,000. The new will awarded Bateman the rest of the $8 million, the indictment says.

Before Crandall died, Bateman drove Crandall to Anderson’s funeral home, the indictment says. Anderson brought three of his funeral home employees to the car, where they witnessed Crandall signing the new will, the indictment says.

News reports said Crandall suffered from dementia in her final years.

Bateman and Anderson will make their first appearance in federal court in Columbia on July 31.

The case is being handled by Federal Judge Joe Anderson.

The assistant U.S. attorneys prosecuting the case are Winston Holliday and Jonathan Matthews. The FBI investigated.