PROVIDENCE — A Rhode Island businesswoman who allegedly created direct-mail sweepstakes schemes that defrauded seniors around the country out of an estimated $10 million has been indicted by a federal grand jury and arraigned on conspiracy and fraud charges, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.
Meagan E. Shine, 47, of Warwick, was charged by the way of indictment last month with four counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. She was arraigned on Tuesday in US District Court in Providence and released on an unsecured bond. Shine is also known as “Meagan Roberts” and “Meagan Quinn.”
Shine and her husband, Michael Shine, have been in and out of the court system for this scheme before. The Shines and a third associate, Melissa Pinelli, of Cranston, were first accused of engaging in a predatory mail fraud scheme in 2018. Michael Shine also owns Tammany Hall Pub & Parlor at 409 Atwells Ave. in Providence.
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Meagan Shine could not be immediately reached for comment by phone on Tuesday.
Shine utilized the US Postal Service to engage in predatory fraud schemes that allegedly duped senior citizens and others into sending payments that were usually around $20 to $30 each, court filings show. She used mailings that falsely stated or suggested prizes, valuable items, or “other premiums,” according to court records..
An investigation conducted by the US Postal Inspection Service and the US Attorney’s Office revealed that sweepstakes solicitations were sent to residents in 41 states. The investigation “conservatively estimated” that recipients paid nearly $50,000 per year in response to the solicitations, according to Jim Martin, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.
Many of Shine’s victims reported being contacted “multiple times” and “sending multiple payments,” a news release by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island said.
Shine rented lists of consumer information, and refined the lists to target “those most likely to respond,” according to her indictment, which was obtained by the Globe. Those lists included names, addresses, and other information of victims of other fraudulent and deceptive schemes.
These deceptive solicitations, which allegedly took place for nearly a decade, conveyed a false impression that recipients had been individually pre-selected or verified and entitled to claim a large amount of money in a lottery or entitled to receive a valuable item, the Justice Department said.
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Her mailings often had been personalized with the name of the recipient to bolster their alleged authenticity, and recipients were instructed to send money, frequently by a deadline, to a PO box in Providence for the “processing” or “handling” of their winnings. The mailings were then printed on official-looking certificate paper, frequently carried what appeared to be the seals of governments or governmental agencies, and frequently contained other language and other details designed to make them appear official. These documents often had bar codes, document control numbers, and printing that appears to be rubber stamped, such as with the phrase “authorized document,” the US Attorneys office said. Apart from the recipient’s name and address, the Justice Department said all of the mailings were “all identical.”
Shine’s entire scheme — which took place between August 2008 through December 2018 — was allegedly executed through businesses Shine created and operated in Rhode Island, including Lucky Dog, LLC, Premium Ops & Incentives, Destiny Merchandise, LLC, and Independent Catalog Services. She frequently consulted with two individuals — identified in the indictment only under the initials J.M. and L.M. — for various parts of the scheme, and about which individuals to target. The individuals operate an unidentified software company that hosted a database of victims who had responded to the prize notices, the indictment said.
“Preying on the hopes of elderly and vulnerable victims for profit, and using fraudulent mailings to persuade them to part with their hard-earned money takes a terrible toll — financially and mentally,” US Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said in a statement.
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If Shine is convicted of any of the counts, she will have to forfeit the couple’s home at 35 Westford Ave. in Warwick and more than $435,000 currently held in various accounts with Washington Trust and Pawtucket Credit Union. The more than 6,000-square-foot historic home built in the late 1700s is for sale for $1.4 million. The Shines paid $650,000 for the property in 2014, according to town real estate records.
The Justice Department will also be able to seize pieces of jewelry that were described in her indictment; three diamond rings, a David Yurman 18k gold ring with pearls, and a David Yurman ring with 42 diamonds, according to the indictment.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.