Iowa lawyer sentenced to prison for Rolls Royce scheme to defraud Medicaid

A north-central Iowa attorney has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for healthcare fraud in attempting to assist a client in qualifying for Medicaid.

U.S. District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand imposed the prison sentence against Timothy Anderson, 67, of Garner, last month, calling the lawyer’s actions “obviously fraudulent and illegal.” Strand also fined Anderson $25,000, and ordered him to pay $184,274 in restitution to Iowa Medicaid.

Anderson pleaded guilty last year to one count of false statements relating to a healthcare matter. Citing that plea, the Iowa Supreme Court recently ordered that Anderson’s Iowa law licenses be temporarily suspended, with the suspension to continue until he shows good cause for reinstatement.

At his October 2025 plea hearing, Anderson admitted that as an Iowa-licensed attorney, he provided financial services to elderly clients hoping to qualify for Medicaid that would pay for nursing home care. Eligibility for the Medicaid program typically hinges on one’s assets since it’s designed to pay for care for those who can’t afford it. In determining the assets and resources of individuals and their spouses, one automobile is typically excluded from consideration, regardless of its value.

Court records show that one elderly couple Anderson assisted in 2021 had more than $400,000 in assets, including a 2020 Chevrolet valued at $30,000, but was hoping to have Medicaid pay their nursing home expenses while passing their remaining assets on to their heirs.

Iowa Medicaid determined the couple would have to either reduce their assets by $300,000 or spend that amount of money on excluded assets — such as a car.

Anderson later admitted that in October 2021, he deposited a $186,000 check from the couple into his personal savings account and transferred the certificate of title to his 1961 Rolls Royce Phantom V to them. Just two days before that transfer, Anderson had been driving the Rolls Royce when he was involved in an accident that rendered the car inoperable.

On Nov. 4, 2021, Anderson later acknowledged, he gave Iowa Medicaid a series of documents to qualify the husband for Iowa Medicaid benefits.  The documents reflected the couple’s ownership of the Rolls Royce and indicated it had a fair market value of $194,000.

Iowa Medicaid rejected the application, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation that resulted in the criminal charge and guilty plea.

Anderson declined to comment on the case when contacted by the Iowa Capital Dispatch, but his attorneys told the Iowa Supreme Court recently that Anderson “fully appreciates the significance of his misconduct” and is remorseful.

“Mr. Anderson has had an exemplary record of good conduct,” they told the court. “Additionally, Mr. Anderson has cooperated with the government, cooperated with the Attorney Disciplinary Board, self-reported his conduct, has begun to make efforts to transfer his practice, has not had any complaints since his self-report, and has conducted himself in an honorable fashion.”