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The latest mugshot of Daliqua Moses. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT.
ST. THOMAS - One woman is now facing a slew of criminal charges after reportedly taking a man’s missing wallet and using his credit card to rent a car and book a hotel room.
At the beginning of the week, a man reported to police that his credit card had been used without his authorization. He said he had been at a café at Nisky Center on Monday morning around 9:30 a.m. when he misplaced his wallet. He left the establishment unaware that his wallet had been left behind, and It was only when he was subsequently notified by his bank about fraudulent activity on his account that he realized something was wrong.
The man said he went back to the cafe to ask staff if they had seen the missing wallet, but they had not. He then queried the bank, who told him that his card had been used at a hotel on the west end of Charlotte Amalie. He told police that he went to the hotel to speak with the manager, who confirmed that his card was used to book a room at the property and to rent a vehicle. The man said that the hotel manager provided him with the driver’s license and contact details of the individual who had used his card – Daliqua Moses.
The man showed police a text message exchange between himself and Ms. Moses, where he requested that she return his wallet. When asked to return the rental vehicle as well, Ms. Moses reportedly objected. “Listen, you [said] return the wallet only,” she reportedly texted the man whose credit card she had used to reserve the rental. “Stop texting me. You have your wallet goodbye and sorry.” The man confirmed to police that he did ultimately receive his wallet from an unknown man, with all his credit cards and personal identification inside. The man says he eventually figured out that apart from the cafe and the hotel, his card was also used at a nearby K-Mart as well as a convenience store.
The hotel’s receptionist spoke to police on Monday as well, saying that she was present when Ms. Moses came in to inquire about the cost of a room. The receptionist noted that the driver’s license did not match the credit card, but Ms. Moses convinced her that the card belonged to her boyfriend, and they wanted to celebrate his birthday at the hotel. She booked a room for one night and also rented a gray Nissan Sentra for a day. The receptionist told police that Ms. Moses was informed that the car had to be returned at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Officers reviewed surveillance footage at the hotel and spotted Ms. Moses inspecting the grey Nissan, signing paperwork, and then driving off in the vehicle.
Police visited the hotel on Tuesday June 27 at 10:00 a.m., waiting for the rental car to be returned. When Ms. Moses hadn’t shown up by 11:10, police began to search the Hospital Ground area hoping to spot her. One officer traveled to the Lockhart Garden Kmart in hopes of retrieving receipts of her purchases using the man’s card and met with the asset protection manager for that location. A review of the surveillance footage showed Ms. Moses at the cashier with a bottle of moscato and some clothing, police say. The man’s card was charged $11.99 for the purchase. While he was at the Kmart, the officer said he received a call from the hotel manager, telling him that Ms. Moses had turned up but without the vehicle. She called back to say that Moses had been spotted entering the drive-through of the bank which had issued the credit card she was fraudulently using. She was driving the hotel’s rental Nissan, the manager said.
Police tracked Daliqua Moses down to the drive-through and arrested her there. At the location, police reportedly recorded her confessing to using the man’s credit card without authorization, and also expressing her desire to avoid arrest by offering her body in lieu.
While at the bank drive-through, the arresting officer said he received information from the Kmart asset protection manager that Ms. Moses may have used another credit card to pay for her purchases at the store. The last four digits of the second card were conveyed to the complainant, and he confirmed that he did have a credit card at a different financial institution that matched. It turns out that both cards were used by Ms. Moses at various locations, for purchases totaling over $330.
Daliqua Moses was ultimately charged with obtaining money by false pretense, defrauding a hotel or restaurant, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and credit card theft. She was remanded into custody until her advice of rights hearing.
The details of Ms. Moses’s pre-trial release conditions were not available as of press time, however they are likely to be stringent, as this is not her first time before the courts on similar charges. She was most recently arrested last August after being allegedly caught on camera stealing two checks belonging to the manager of a car rental company, and subsequently forging and cashing them. Ms. Moses pleaded no contest to one count in that case, and was sentenced to a three-year suspended sentence, along with three years of supervised probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution of over $3,200. As part of the plea agreement, the other seven counts in that case were dismissed. Two other pending criminal matters were also dismissed with prejudice, as part of the plea deal which ensured that Ms. Moses saw no jail time.
This most recent arrest comes just over two months since Daliqua Moses was sentenced in the check forging matter.
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