Press Release: 11/11/2025
AG’s Office Arraigns Georgia Man For Stealing More Than $1 Million From Massachusetts Unclaimed Property Division
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) today announced that Shaka Stayman, 44, of Atlanta, Georgia, was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court for fraudulently submitting seven separate claims for funds held by the Massachusetts Unclaimed Property Division (UCP). As a result of his scheme, Stayman was issued three checks totaling more than $1.1 million. UCP investigators and the Massachusetts State Police prevented Stayman from receiving payments from his remaining four claims, preventing further losses of approximately $2.2 million.
Stayman pled not guilty on November 7 to three counts of Larceny Over $1,200; four counts of Attempted Larceny Over $1,200; three counts of Money Laundering; seven counts of Uttering a False Document; seven counts of Presentation of False Claims; and one count of Conspiracy. His bail was set at $2 million.
The AGO alleges that between September 2023 and August 2025, Stayman identified high-value property held by UCP and then submitted claims impersonating someone claiming a right to the property. To do this, Stayman submitted false and forged documents to UCP, used phone services to create “ghost” call-forwarding numbers to hide his true phone number, and used post office boxes and mail-forwarding services to re-route claim checks and hide the true destination of the funds. As part of his scheme, Stayman also opened fraudulent bank accounts in others’ names by using fraudulent identifications. According to financial records, Stayman used stolen funds on payments for a luxury condominium, vehicles and purchases of designer goods.
Stayman is a resident of Georgia. Massachusetts State Police troopers, with the assistance of Atlanta-area law enforcement, conducted a search warrant at Stayman’s home in Atlanta, which revealed copies of the claim paperwork he submitted to UCP and other documentary evidence consistent with his fraud scheme.
A co-defendant in this case, Dwight Tucker, is scheduled for arraignment on Nov. 13.
These charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Shane O’Sullivan of the AGO’s Gaming Enforcement Division and Assistant Attorney General Richard Langweber of the AGO’s White Collar and Public Integrity Unit, with assistance from the Digital Evidence Lab, Financial Investigations Division, and Victim Services Division assigned to the AGO, the Massachusetts State Police, Massachusetts Office of the Treasurer, Atlanta Police Department, South Fulton Police Department, Georgia Bureau of Investigations, and the District Attorney’s Office of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit.