Massachusetts Man Charged With Using Neighbor's Card for Gambling Spree

Man Charged With Using Neighbor's Card for Gambling Spree
$48,000 Stolen From 83-Year-Old Woman, Investigators Say


BOSTON -- An 83-year old Dracut woman is the victim of credit card fraud after trusting a neighbor to help with errands when she became too ill to go out, investigators said.

The Salem News reported James Hughes, 51, who lived with his mother in the same complex as the victim, used the woman's credit card to pay for gambling trips to Foxwoods casino and the racetrack at Rockingham Park.

Hughes faces multiple counts of larceny from a person over 60 and credit card fraud in several jurisdictions.

According to state police assigned to the Electronic Crimes Task Force, Hughes racked up $48,000 in charges not only on gambling but at stores all over the northeastern part of the state.

Investigators said he also used the cards more than 100 times at other places including stores in Peabody and Middleton, Lowell and Chelmsford.

A Peabody District Court judge ordered him held on $45,000 cash bail last month though a Salem Superior Court judge reduced that to $2,500 Monday. The case was continued until Nov. 28.

Hughes' attorney filed a motion to dismiss the charges, saying there's not enough probable cause to charge him with a crime. A hearing on that matter is set for Tuesday morning in Peabody District Court.

The victim's nieces and nephews discovered the charges last fall as they were going over her finances. Investigators said many of the gambling charges happened while the victim was temporarily in a nursing home in 2009.