Nicole Morales, a resident of St. Croix and originally from California, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for her involvement in an embezzlement scheme. United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced the sentencing, which was handed down by District Judge Wilma A. Lewis following Morales's guilty plea to three counts of wire fraud in November 2024.
Morales, who worked as an office manager at Nichols, Newman, Logan, Grey, and Lockwood, P.C., used her position to manipulate payroll records starting in December 2015. She inflated her payroll figures using QuickBooks software and transferred unauthorized funds from her employer’s Banco Popular account into her personal bank accounts. To cover up the fraudulent activity, she later adjusted the records to show correct income and payroll figures before generating reports for approval by her employer.
The fraudulent activities continued until January 2019, resulting in a total embezzlement of $372,496.34. Along with the prison sentence, Judge Lewis ordered Morales to pay restitution equal to the amount embezzled and a special assessment fee of $300.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel H. Huston and Rhonda Williams-Henry.
