Beaufort County Woman Sentenced to Prison in Pandemic Business Loan Scam

BEAUFORT, S.C. (July 16, 2025) – A woman with ties to the region will spend time in both federal and state prison after admitting to a major scam that fooled investors and a local car dealership.

Samantha A. Nottingham, 38, said she was building a western-themed neighborhood in Port Royal and told people her company, Eastern Westerner, LLC, was buying land worth $18 million. To make her story seem real, she faked tax returns and bank documents that claimed she made over $2 million a year and had $73 million in savings.

“She worked hard to trick people by creating fake documents and even wore a mask to hide her face,” said Francine Norz, the prosecutor who handled the case.

Nottingham used someone else’s identity—without permission—to buy three brand-new cars worth over $300,000 in one day from a car dealership in Beaufort. She wore a medical mask during the sale so workers wouldn’t recognize her.

She also got in trouble with the federal government for lying on an application to get money from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was meant to help small businesses during the pandemic.

Nottingham now faces time in both federal and state prisons:

• 1 year and 1 day in federal prison
• 3 years of federal probation
• $305,378 in federal fines
• 2 years in state prison after her federal sentence
• 5 years of state probation
• $250,173 in state fines
• She is also not allowed to open new credit cards or loans without permission.

The case was investigated by David Tafoya from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. Prosecutor Francine Norz has worked in the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office since 2006 and focuses on fraud and money crimes.

Source: scsolisitor14.org