A Pennsylvania man is accused of stealing nearly $4 million from an elderly woman with senile dementia and spending the money on high-end shopping sprees, fancy restaurants and plastic surgery.
James Batt, 66, of Flourtown, about 14 miles northwest of Philadelphia, was arrested on numerous felony counts, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said in a news release Wednesday.
According to the release, Batt is accused of stealing from Alice Lineman, 92, before and after she died in August 2019. The district attorney's office said that Batt was a friend of Lineman's, that he was one of the largest beneficiaries of her estate and that he had been named the executor and trustee of her estate.
"This defendant took advantage of an elderly woman suffering from senile dementia by stealing more than $3.7 million from her and from her estate, thereby draining the assets available to Ms. Lineman, her estate and her heirs," Steele said in a statement.
"Through our prosecution of this egregious crime, we will hold Batt accountable for living extravagantly on money that should have gone to Ms. Lineman’s family," he continued.
Officials allege that before Lineman died, Batt made $30,000 in personal expenditures on her American Express account, changed her mailing address for the account to his home residence and added his partner as an authorized user.
An investigation also alleged that he withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars from two other bank accounts.
After Lineman died, Batt is alleged to have written 139 checks from 2019 to 2022 payable to himself from her bank accounts. The district attorney's office said he took $592,400 from one account and just over $1.3 million from another.
In total, Batt is accused of making unauthorized transactions totaling $3,715,318.
The district attorney's office said Batt spent much of the money on hotels, fancy restaurants, movie tickets, extravagant travel, high-end shopping and plastic surgery.
Law enforcement was alerted to the thefts after two of Lineman's relatives and beneficiaries sued Batt, saying he was the executor of Lineman's will but did not disperse any funds.
The news release says he made one payment of $150,000 to a beneficiary but did not distribute any other money.
In 2023, a judge removed Batt as trustee of Lineman's living trust and ordered him to turn over estate assets, but he refused, the district attorney's office alleged. The judge found him in contempt of court in 2023 and again on March 19, when an arrest warrant was issued.
Batt was being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $99,000 cash bail. The judge added a provision barring Batt from using any of Lineman's money to pay his bail. He is due in court May 6 for a preliminary hearing.
