A St. Croix woman was arrested Thursday on charges of embezzlement after a victim complained that her credit card had been used fraudulently.

Police Commissioner Novelle E. Francis, Jr. Friday announced the arrest of Adellah Maria Berry, a 21-year-old woman who lives in Estate Sion Farm. She was arrested by members of the the Insular Investigation Bureau with the assistance of U.S. Postal Inspector Steve Stebbins.

Charges are embezzlement by an employee, embezzlement by fiduciaries, forgery, obtaining money by false pretense, grand larceny, and identity theft. Magistrate Miguel A. Camacho signed the arrest warrant and bail was set at $35,000.00. Berry was unable to post bail and was remanded to Golden Grove Detention Facility.

According to an announcement from the V.I, Police Department, the investigation was a collaboration between the police and the U.S. Postal Services. It began when a customer of the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Worker Identification Credential program reported that her credit card contained unauthorized charges and the individual had had those purchases mailed to a postal box in St. Croix.

The Postal Inspector requested a control delivery and was able to identify the person that received the package. This lead investigator to obtain information that an employee working in the TWIC office was stealing postal money orders, and cashing them.

Francis suggested members of the public should always check their credit card statements to insure unauthorized charges are not made without their knowledge. Credit cards that are compromised should be reported as soon as possible to the financial institution to stop payments and to be replaced. Also, Francis re-emphasized that all defendants are presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of law.