A Georgia inmate has been accused of stealing $11 million from billionaire Sidney Kimmel, pretending to be him while behind bars. Kimmel is the chairman and CEO of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and is responsible for films such as Hell or High Water, Crazy Rich Asians and Moneyball.
Arthur Lee Cofield Jr. allegedly used a contraband cell phone inside the Georgia Department of Corrections’ Special Management Unit, where he tricked customer service representatives into believing he was Kimmel and stole millions from his Charles Schawb’s bank account.
Cofield got the customer service reps to wire the money to a company in Idaho to buy 6,000 American Eagle one-ounce gold coins. He then arranged for a private plane to bring the coins to Atlanta, and used some of them to buy a $4.4 million house in Buckhead.
The inmate was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Two others, 65-year-old Eldridge Bennett and his 27-year-old daughter Eliayah Bennett, have also pleaded not guilty to charges that they worked on the outside to make the scheme happen.
Cofield was already serving a 14-year sentence for armed robbery. He was moved from Georgia State Prison to the Special Management Unit after a warrant for his arrest was issued in Fulton County for ordering a shooting in Atlanta, which left the victim paralyzed from the waist down.
