Woman Sentenced to Community Service for Fraudulent Check Scheme on St. Croix

ST. CROIX — A woman who pleaded guilty to obtaining money by false pretense has been sentenced to 50 hours of community service for each of the two years she spends on probation.

Noemi Martinez was arrested after allegedly trying to use counterfeit Virgin Islands Housing Authority checks at a supermarket on St. Croix. The establishment contacted authorities after the fraudulent checks were stopped by the bank, and both VIHA and the Department of Finance confirmed that the instruments were not genuine.

Under police questioning, Martinez admitted to cashing the checks but said that she did not prepare them. At the time of her arrest, she told police that she had received the three checks in her mailbox.

Following a plea deal in November 2023, in which other charges including forgery, grand larceny and identity theft were dropped, a sentencing hearing for Martinez was held on March 27.