Providence Businesswoman Arraigned in $10M Senior Mail Fraud Case

A Providence businesswoman has been arraigned in federal court in Rhode Island on a five-count indictment that accuses her of running a direct-mail sweepstakes scheme that defrauded seniors and other vulnerable people out of more than $10 million. Megan E. Shine, 47, of Warwick, appeared in U.S. District Court in Providence and was released on an unsecured bond, according to the Justice Department press release announcing the case.

The grand jury returned the indictment on June 17. Shine faces four counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, with the case being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island and the Justice Department’s Civil Division Consumer Protection Branch. If convicted on any count, she faces a 20-year maximum sentence, with any final penalty to be set by a federal judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Federal Indictment

The indictment charges Shine with four counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, according to the Justice Department press release. Prosecutors allege the scheme ran from August 2008 to December 2018 and was carried out through a cluster of Rhode Island businesses Shine created and operated, including Lucky Dog LLC, doing business as Premium Ops & Incentives, and Destiny Merchandise LLC, doing business as Independent Catalog Services. The trial team combines senior civil fraud prosecutors from the Consumer Protection Branch in Washington with assistant U.S. attorneys from the local U.S. Attorney’s Office in Providence.

Trial Attorneys Charles Dunn, Ann Entwistle, and Colin Trundle of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch are joined on the case by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Denise M. Barton and Peter I. Roklan for the District of Rhode Island. An indictment is an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, with a federal district court judge to determine any sentence under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The United States Postal Inspection Service is investigating.

How the Direct-Mail Scheme Worked

Prosecutors describe a deliberately engineered piece of mail. According to the indictment, Shine mailed deceptive solicitations that led recipients to believe they had been individually pre-selected or verified and were entitled to claim a large amount of money in a lottery, or to receive a valuable item. The mailings, often personalized with the recipient’s name, instructed them to send money by a deadline to a post office box in Providence for the “processing” or “handling” of their purported winnings.

The materials were printed on official-looking or certificate paper, frequently carried what appeared to be the seals of governments or government agencies, and included other language designed to mimic authenticity, including bar codes, document control numbers, rubber-stamped phrases like “authorized document,” highlighted text, and bank-check style typography. Apart from the recipient’s name and address, all of the mailings were identical, and in place of any real prize, victims received a booklet containing publicly available sweepstakes rules or a small, inexpensive piece of jewelry. Payments typically ran between $20 and $30 per mailing, with many recipients reporting being contacted multiple times and sending multiple payments, according to court documents. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office conservatively estimated that recipients paid nearly $50,000 per year in response to the solicitations, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Jim Martin told the Boston Globe.

The Reach Across Forty-One States

The solicitations went to residents in 41 states, according to the Boston Globe, citing the investigation. Prosecutors say Shine rented lists of consumer information and refined them to target those most likely to respond, including the names, addresses, and other information of victims of other fraudulent and deceptive schemes. Two individuals identified in the indictment only by the initials J.M. and L.M., who operate an unidentified software company that hosted a database of victims who had responded to the prize notices, helped refine the targeting.

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.

U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha for the District of Rhode Island, whose office is prosecuting the case with the Consumer Protection Branch, added in the same press release: “Working with our partners at the Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, the Postal Inspection Service and federal, state and local law enforcement, we are determined to ensure that those who seek to profit from fraud are held accountable.” The press release places the alleged losses at more than $10 million taken from seniors and other vulnerable people across the country, and notes that Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, considers such schemes a national priority for the Consumer Protection Branch.

What the Government Seeks to Forfeit

If Shine is convicted on any count, the government can move to seize assets prosecutors have linked to the scheme. The list of targeted property, drawn from the indictment and reported by the Boston Globe, includes real estate, cash on hand, and personal jewelry, and is part of the same filing that returned the five criminal counts against Shine in June.

Per the indictment, the targeted assets include:

• The couple’s home at 35 Westford Ave. in Warwick, a more than 6,000-square-foot historic home built in the late 1700s, which was listed for sale at $1.4 million. The Shines paid $650,000 for the property in 2014, according to town real estate records.
• More than $435,000 held in accounts with Washington Trust and Pawtucket Credit Union.
• Three diamond rings, a David Yurman 18k gold ring with pearls, and a David Yurman ring with 42 diamonds.

Boynton, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, framed the broader stakes in the same press release. “Mass mail fraud schemes defraud elderly and vulnerable consumers out of millions of dollars every year,” Boynton said. “The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and its law enforcement partners are committed to vigorously pursuing all individuals who prey on vulnerable and elderly victims through these types of fraudulent schemes.” The forfeiture list shows what prosecutors are prepared to put on the table alongside the 20-year statutory maximum.

Prosecutors, Investigators, and the Pattern of Conduct

The June 2024 indictment is not Shine’s first federal encounter over direct-mail solicitations. In 2018, Shine, her husband Michael Shine, and a third associate, Melissa Pinelli of Cranston, were accused of engaging in a predatory mail fraud scheme, according to court records cited by the Boston Globe. Michael Shine also owns Tammany Hall Pub & Parlor at 409 Atwells Ave. in Providence, the paper reported. Shine is also known as “Meagan Roberts” and “Meagan Quinn,” aliases that appeared in the earlier case filings.

The grand jury’s June 17 indictment covers conduct that allegedly began in August 2008 and ran through December 2018, a roughly ten-year window in which the solicitations went out in waves to residents across the country. The full federal press release on the Shine indictment includes the full text of the allegations, the schedule of the arraignment, and instructions for reporting suspected elder fraud to the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Megan E. Shine allegedly do?

Prosecutors allege she ran a direct-mail sweepstakes scheme through Lucky Dog LLC, doing business as Premium Ops & Incentives, and Destiny Merchandise LLC, doing business as Independent Catalog Services, sending personalized mailings that falsely led recipients to believe they had won cash or prizes and instructing them to send $20 to $30 processing or handling fees to a Providence post office box. In place of any real prize, victims received a booklet of publicly available sweepstakes rules or a small, inexpensive piece of jewelry, the indictment says.

What is she charged with?

Four counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, according to the Justice Department press release. If convicted on any count, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, with any final sentence to be set by a federal judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

How much money is at issue?

The Justice Department says the scheme defrauded seniors and other vulnerable individuals across the country out of more than $10 million. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office conservatively estimated that recipients paid nearly $50,000 per year in response to the solicitations.

Where can seniors report suspected fraud?

The Justice Department’s National Elder Fraud Hotline, 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311), is staffed Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET, with English, Spanish, and other-language support. Complaints can also be filed with the FTC at the federal online fraud-reporting portal, and more resources are available through the Office for Victims of Crime at the federal elder-fraud resource page.