ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A man who jumped to his death last week was fleeing arrest over charges related to romance scams, in which he manipulated multiple women he met on online dating websites out of tens of thousands of dollars, according to court documents.
What we know:
Shawn Steven Harris, who was also known by seven other aliases, was accused of using online dating and social media websites to defraud female victims from October 2019 to November 2021. According to court documents, Harris would pretend to be a government employee and obtain money from women he met on online dating sites, making false promises to pay them back.
Harris went by the following names:
- SHAWN MARTINEZ
- SHAUN MARTINEZ
- ERIC SHUN
- GORDON SHUMWAY
- SHAUN HARNESS
- SHAUN MOOR
- SHAUN WOMACK
He would tell his victims that they would be reimbursed by himself or the U.S. government, at times promising things like pet dogs, elimination of student loan debt, houses and cars.
Dig deeper:
One of the victims met Harris on Bumble under the fake name "Shawn Martinez" He told her he was an undercover CIA operative, and persuaded her to cover the cost of his fake overseas mission with her credit cards, eventually becoming an authorized user on her Capital One account. He racked up bills and maxed out her card, using excuses like the passing of the National Security Act and COVID stimulus bills as to why and when she would be reimbursed by the government.
"Stop racking up monies on my credit card mister!" one of the victims texted Harris.
"It’s not racking up. It’s a trial lady. And I’m paying for all of this," he replied – but no repayment was ever made.
Another victim, a single mother of two, let Harris use her Chase credit card for "missions" while charging luxury items from Bloomingdales, food deliveries, even OnlyFan purchases to her card. He repeatedly gave elaborate excuses for delays, claiming he was authorized to give her $50,000 and would "take care of her and the kids."
To other victims, Harris claimed to work for DIA, CIA, FBI and other "alphabet agencies" while using credit cards to purchase spa services, manicures and groceries, with no reimbursement ever made.
Read the full court documents below.
The backstory:
Harris jumped from the 15th floor of a building in the 4300 block of King Street last Friday at 6:00 a.m. as FBI agents attempted to serve him an arrest warrant. He died at the scene.
READ MORE: Man jumps to death from Alexandria high-rise while fleeing arrest warrant: FBI
What's next:
Harris' indictment has been dismissed by the United States.