CHRISTIANSTED — A California native has admitted to stealing nearly $400,000 from the St. Croix law firm that employed her, authorities said.
Nicole Morales, 48, a resident of St. Croix, was sentenced to 16 months incarceration following her guilty plea in November 2024 to three counts of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said today.
Judge Wilma A. Lewis also ordered Morales to pay restitution in the amount of $372,496.34, and a special assessment in the amount of $300.00.
According to court records, in November 2015, Morales was employed by Nichols, Newman, Logan, Grey, and Lockwood, P.C., in St. Croix as the office manager where her duties included processing payroll through Banco Popular.
In December 2015, Morales began fraudulently inflating her payroll using QuickBooks accounting software.
Thereafter, Morales wired unauthorized funds from her employer’s Banco Popular account into three separate personal bank accounts owned by Morales.
After transferring the funds to her personal accounts, Morales would change the inflated amounts in QuickBooks to reflect her correct income and payroll figures.
Morales would later generate reports in QuickBooks with the correct payroll figures which were
approved by her employer.
Morales continued this conduct until January 2019, after having embezzled a total of $372,496.34 from her employer.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel H. Huston and Rhonda Williams-Henry.
