SC couple used dying veteran’s $1.4M savings to go on spending spree, charges say

A Columbia couple has been indicted for stealing the life savings — $1.4 million in cash — from bank accounts of an elderly disabled veteran who was their neighbor.

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the couple — Sam Edward Hayes, 69, and his wife, Naomi Hayes, 65 — and accused them of bank fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy.

“The object of the conspiracy was for the defendants to defraud a disabled elderly veteran of his life savings — approximately $1.4 million in cash — by forging a power of attorney and emptying his bank accounts, and then using that money for their own benefit,” the indictment reads.

The couple were arrested in November on similar state charges by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department and were out on bond. County investigators began working with federal law officers last fall on the case because federal laws are more effective in investigating and prosecuting this kind of major white collar crime, county investigators said.

Taylor Bell, an attorney for Sam Hayes, said, “There are two sides to every story. Everybody is innocent until proven guilty.”

Ramie Shalabi, an attorney for Naomi Hayes, said, “My client is presumed innocent at this time. I haven’t seen the federal indictment at this time and have no comment on it.”

The Hayeses were neighbors of the veteran, who was identified in the indictment only as “B.B.”, a man in his 80s, who was in a nursing facility at the time of the alleged fraud with only a few months to live, the indictment said.

“Victim died during the course of the fraud,” which took place during 2021, the indictment said.

As the Hayeses, who are both retired, moved money from the veteran’s bank accounts to their own, they spent it on all kinds of things — buying rental apartments, luxury cars, a vacation and a house, the indictment said.

The Hayeses also used the stolen money to make gifts to family members and pay off their home mortgage, the indictment said.

Phony power of attorney

The scheme began last July when both Hayeses crafted a phony power of attorney, giving them control over the man’s various bank accounts at Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and AllSouth Federal Credit Union, the indictment said. At the time, “B.B.” was mentally and physically incapacitated and unable to comprehend the process of granting a power of attorney, or even to sign the document, the indictment said.

From mid-July to Oct. 27, when “B.B.” died, and beyond, Sam Hayes emptied the veteran’s bank accounts, closing out two of them and putting all the money in a single Wells Fargo account, according to the indictment.

From the Wells Fargo account, Sam Hayes wrote cashier’s checks totaling $1.15 million to himself and to various family members, the indictment said.

One of the Hayeses’ first expenditures was in late July — $76,290 to pay off the mortgage on their one-story brick house on Alba Drive, the indictment said.

Cars that the Hayeses bought with the stolen money were a 2020 Cadillac for $47,395; a 2022 Infiniti QX55 for $58,626, and a 2018 Toyota Camry for $27,908, the indictment said.

The couple also sold “B.B.’s” 1998 Cadillac for $1,200 to CarMax, the indictment said.

Another purchase by the Hayeses, in September, was a $428,928 four-bedroom house with a two-car garage at 4033 Reid Road in York County, several miles south of Rock Hill, the indictment said. A real estate promotion for this house described it as a “gorgeous brick home nestled on a beautifully landscaped 1-acre lot. Upon entering the front door you’ll be greeted with an elegant great room adorned with coffered ceiling, stone fireplace and matching built-in bookshelves on either side.”

Also in September, Sam Hayes and his son, identified only by the initials “M.H”, used the veteran’s money to buy three rental properties on Cedar Terrace Road for $240,000, the indictment said.

In October, Sam Hayes and M.H. bought a 6.7-acre tract on St. Luke’s Church Road in Prosperity for $54,570, the indictment said.

The bank got suspicious

An investigator with the Richland County sheriff’s department said the original tip about questionable transactions being made by a third party in the veteran’s bank account came from i Wells Fargo bank.

The bank became suspicious about the veteran’s bank accounts being closed down and the money in them being transferred to other accounts, said the investigator.

“The bank got suspicious of the movement of funds in such large amounts over a period of time,” said the investigator, who was authorized to talk to a reporter for The State but didn’t want his name used publicly.

The bank notified the South Carolina Department of Social Services because the veteran was elderly, the investigator said. DSS notified the sheriff’s department.

On looking into the matter, the investigator said he found that the veteran had had a stroke and was incapacitated at the time the power of attorney was supposedly granted.

“He was in pretty much a vegetative state,” the investigator said.

The indictment mentioned the Hayeses went on vacation with the veteran’s money but didn’t say where. The investigator described it as “a trip to Hawaii.”

Richland County investigators then linked up with the Secret Service, whose agents have extensive experience in financial crimes and bank fraud.

“They were very happy to take the case,” the investigator said. “They said for us to work the state charges and they would work the federal charges.”

The veteran had one heir, a son, who lived out of state.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Holliday is prosecuting the case.

Richland Sheriff Leon Lott said solving financial crimes “is following a paper trail and tedious work — not the exciting cops and robbers you see on television. This was sitting there looking at lots of numbers, going through bank accounts and receipts — you just have to put it together.”

The victim in this case was extremely vulnerable, Lott said. “Now someone is going to pay the price for it.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2022 at 1:43 PM.