Montco Man, Live-In Aide Stole $3.7 Million From Elderly Woman With Dementia: DA

FLOURTOWN, PA — A Montgomery County man stole more than $3.7 million from an elderly woman who had entrusted her estate to him before her death in 2019, the district attorney's office announced.

James Batt, 66, of Flourtown, then spent the money on "extravagant" travel, hotels, expensive restaurants, theater tickets, wine and liquor, shopping at high-end stores, and plastic surgery, police said.

Batt had been a friend and live-in aid of Alice Lineman, who died at 92 back in Aug. 2019. Lineman was suffering from senile dementia leading up to her death, which allowed Batt an opportunity to steal her money, police said.

Specifically, Batt changed the mailing address for Lineman's American Express account and added his significant other as an authorized user, according to officials. He made some $30,000 in expenditures on that account before her death about another half a million after her death, then withdrew $884,743 from Lineman’s Wells Fargo account, $156,068 from her Morgan Stanley account, and wrote himself a total of 139 checks from her accounts, police said.

Batt was also the executor of her will, and failed to make any disbursements from her estate to the beneficiaries named by Lineman save for a single $150,000 payment, according to authorities.

Two of Lineman's relatives had previously filed a suit against Batt in 2023 for refusing to turn over various estate assets, sparking a deeper law enforcement investigation.

Batt was charged with felony counts of financial exploitation of an older adult, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and more. He failed to post $99,000 bail and was booked at Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing has been set for May 6.