Woman pleads guilty to embezzling $372,000 from her employer

CHRISTIANSTED — Nicole Morales, 48, of Altadena, California, has pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith said Monday.

The sentencing is scheduled for March 19, 2025, where Morales faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

According to court records, on November 10, 2015, Morales began working as the office manager at Nichols, Newman, Logan, Grey, and Lockwood, P.C., on King Street in St. Croix, where her duties included processing payroll through Banco Popular.

Nichols, Newman, Logan, Grey, and Lockwood, P.C.’s offices on King Street in St. Croix

Beginning on December 31, 2015, Morales began fraudulently inflating her payroll using QuickBooks accounting software and wiring unauthorized funds from her employer’s Banco Popular account into three separate personal bank accounts owned by Morales, court records said.

Morales continued this conduct until January 11, 2019. In total, she embezzled $372,496.34 from her employer, according to court files.