Staff Writer

 A New York man is being held on federal charges after he allegedly used a counterfeit credit card to try to purchase gift cards at Walmart in Biddeford.

Shaheem Shaw, 23, of Brooklyn, N.Y., appeared in U.S. District Court in Portland last week and was ordered held without bail pending a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, after the Courier publication deadline.

Police believe Shaw used a counterfeit card made with a stolen account number to attempt to buy five $1,000 gift cards and an iPod Touch at Walmart in Biddeford. Biddeford police arrested Shaw April 25 after receiving a fraud complaint, according to an affidavit filed in federal court by U.S. Secret Service Agent Matthew Fasulo.

Fasulo said a Walmart clerk, aware the store had a fraudulent gift card transaction several days prior, contacted her manager after Shaw tried to buy gift cards. Shaw told police he intended to buy five $100 gift cards with cash, but the clerk said he had requested five $1,000 gift cards.

When Shaw showed a Biddeford police officer cash in his wallet, the officer noticed an American Express card and asked to see it, Fasulo said. The officer compared the card to his own American Express card and noticed it felt thinner and a phone number on the back was missing a digit, according to the affidavit.

The account number on the card in Shaw’s wallet belongs to a company in Washington and the card was used fraudulently throughout New England, according to Fasulo. The same card was used multiple times between April 21 and 26 at Walmart stores in Maine and New Hampshire. A second card found on Shaw was used April 26 at Walmart in Rochester, N.H., to incur more than $20,000 in charges, according to court records.

An additional $47,000 in charges were denied during that time period, Fasulo said. Video footage of a $4,000 transaction at Walmart in Farmington April 21 appears to show Shaw, he said. According to Fasulo, one of the cards in Shaw’s possession also was used for a $5,414.75 transaction April 21 at Walmart in Waterville. Shaw also was seen in a security photograph from that store, he said.

When questioned by police, Shaw said he came to Maine on business with a man named “Calvin” whom he had recently met. He also said they were staying at a Hampton Inn but he wasn’t sure where it was located, Fasulo said. Shaw told police Calvin gave him the credit cards, according to the affidavit.

Fasulo said New Hampshire police located a car at the Hampton Inn in Dover that appeared to be the same vehicle Shaw was seen getting out of at the Biddeford Walmart. The car was later searched by a Secret Service agent who found two new laptop computers and several iPods.

Agents also found behind the glove compartment a plastic bag that contained partially destroyed American Express cards, Fasulo said. The name Shaheem Shaw appeared on portions of the cards and the car was rented to Shaw in New York, he said.