ST. CROIX — A federal judge has denied an emergency request by a St. Croix taxpayer seeking to halt collection activity by the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue and secure the release of bank funds she said had been frozen or levied in connection with a disputed 2021 tax liability.
In an October 8 order, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert A. Molloy ruled that Natasha Nelskie Ogatis-Dollete had not demonstrated the immediate, irreparable harm necessary to obtain emergency relief. The decision leaves her request for court intervention denied but does not resolve the underlying dispute over the tax assessment or the legality of the collection actions.
Ogatis-Dollete, who is representing herself, filed the lawsuit against the Bureau of Internal Revenue on April 30, 2026, in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix Division. Court records classify the case as a federal tax dispute involving an allegedly wrongful levy.
On May 20, Ogatis-Dollete filed an emergency motion asking the court to stay collection activity and release funds affected by the levy while the underlying dispute remained unresolved. Her request concerned collection measures associated with her 2021 tax obligations.
In denying the motion, Judge Molloy determined that the plaintiff had not met the standard for an emergency injunction, which requires a showing of harm that cannot adequately be addressed through ordinary legal remedies. The court treated the financial injury described in the request as an economic loss rather than an injury warranting immediate intervention.
The ruling does not establish whether the Bureau of Internal Revenue correctly calculated Ogatis-Dollete's alleged tax liability or whether the disputed collection actions were legally proper. Those questions were not decided in the October 8 order.
The federal docket shows that Ogatis-Dollete filed her complaint on April 30 and submitted additional documents before seeking emergency relief on May 20. In a separate May 21 order, a magistrate judge denied without prejudice her request for permission to use the court's electronic filing system.
The October 8 decision addresses the emergency request to suspend collection activity and release the affected funds. It does not constitute a final judgment resolving the underlying lawsuit.
The amount of the disputed assessment, the total value of the funds affected and the current status of the collection measures have not been independently established from the publicly accessible records reviewed.
The case is Ogatis-Dollete v. Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue, No. 1:26-cv-00010, in the District Court of the Virgin Islands.
