BOSTON, October 19, 2016— A New Hampshire man was arraigned today on charges he endeared himself to women he met online and went on to charge more than $350,000 under their names, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

MICHAEL J. SHIELDS Jr. (D.O.B. 4/20/91) was arraigned today in Suffolk Superior Court on a 45-count indictment charging him with:

• 21 counts of credit card fraud;
• 17 counts of use of a stolen or fraudulently obtained credit card;
• Two counts of larceny over $250 by single scheme;
• Two counts of attempted larceny over $250;
• One count of larceny over $250;
• And two counts of intimidation of a witness.

Assistant District Attorney George Barker of the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit requested bail of $20,000.  Clerk Magistrate Lisa Medeiros imposed $7,500 bail and ordered Shields to remain within Massachusetts unless he provides proof of his New Hampshire residency.

According to prosecutors, Shields took part in multiple, related schemes to defraud his victims, the majority of whom were women he was romantically involved with.  Shields allegedly asked each victim for her personal information under the claim that he intended to add the victim to his credit card accounts.  However, he instead opened credit cards under the victim’s name and added himself as an authorized user on the accounts.  Shields also opened credit cards in the name of a childhood friend after the man accepted Shields’ offer of help as the victim prepared to transition out of active military duty and into civilian life.

“Schemes like this one can have devastating financial consequences for the victims,” Conley said. “Putting aside the violation of their trust and the immediate financial loss, undoing the damage of credit card fraud can be a complex and time-consuming process.  Prosecutors and victim advocates are ready to assist in that process.”

In applications for credit cards in the victims’ names, Shields falsely claimed to have income of up to $21 million in attempts to secure higher credit limits on the cards, prosecutors said.

Shields attempted to use other victims’ bank accounts to make payments on the fraudulently-opened credit cards, prosecutors said.  He allegedly provided the account information to other female victims, claiming that he was authorized to use the account, and causing the women to attempt to make payments using the accounts.

After one victim allowed Shields to make purchases on her own debit card, Shields allegedly gave the victim a series of four checks, each for $1,000.  Those checks, however, were written on an account that had been closed for two years and were thus worthless.  Another victim who has never met Shields discovered that he had made a series of 22 purchases on her debit card totaling nearly $6,000 in charges, prosecutors said.

Shields is also charged with the theft of $12,500 from a military service member who had given Shields the funds to invest in a stock after Shields claimed to be friendly with the company’s founder.

As the investigation into his alleged offenses was underway, Shields contacted two of the victims in an attempt to dissuade each from cooperating with prosecutors.

Jassie Senwah is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate.  Shields was represented by Andrew Stockwell-Alpert.  He returns to court Nov. 1.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.