KENT COUNTY, Mich. – A 51-year-old woman from Milford, Kari Melissa Morales, has pleaded guilty for her involvement in an arrest scam in West Michigan that sought to extort $60,000 from a Kent County resident.
Authorities reported that legitimate law enforcement and court officials never demand immediate payment to avoid arrest or solicit personal information over the phone. Morales traveled to Grand Rapids to exchange a fake “IRS receipt” and a fraudulent “FBI WARRANT OF ARREST” for $60,000 in cash, which she obtained for an accomplice. She received the counterfeit documents from a co-conspirator she met online but had never met in person. This individual instructed her to print the documents and carry out the cash exchange.
Morales revealed she was told she could keep $2,500 of the cash for her role in the scam. During the attempted exchange, she was found carrying a loaded firearm in a holster in her waistband, along with a police badge she had purchased, which belonged to another person issued by a municipality in Michigan.
The investigation into the arrest scam began when the co-conspirator, posing as someone from the “IRS Fraud Department,” inadvertently sent a text to a federal agent’s cell phone number assigned to Kent County. Authorities believe Morales was acting as a “Money Mule,” responsible for receiving fraudulent proceeds, retaining a portion, and handing the rest to her co-conspirator.
Morales pleaded guilty on Tuesday, August 13, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and now faces the possibility of up to 20 years in prison.
