KENT COUNTY, Michigan. – A 51-year-old Milford woman has pleaded guilty for her role in an arrest fraud in West Michigan.

The scam reportedly involved an attempt to defraud a Kent County resident of $60,000 to avoid arrest and prosecution.

Reputable law enforcement and court officials would never demand immediate payment to avoid arrest or ask for personal information over the phone.

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According to authorities, Kari Melissa Morales drove to Grand Rapids to exchange a fake “IRS receipt” and a fake “FBI arrest warrant” for $60,000 in cash that she managed to steal for an accomplice. Morales received the fake documents from the co-conspirator, whom she met online but never met in person. He instructed her to print the documents and exchange them for cash from the woman named in the fake documents.

Morales said she was told she could keep $2,500 of the cash for her role in the fraud.

During the attempted exchange, authorities said Morales was carrying a loaded firearm in a holster in her waistband and a purchased police badge issued to another person by a Michigan municipality.

The investigation into the arrest fraud began when the co-conspirator posed as an employee of the “IRS Fraud Division” and inadvertently sent a text message to the cell phone number of a federal agent living in Kent County.

Authorities believe Morales worked as a “money mule,” someone whose job it was to accept fraudulent proceeds, keep some of them, and pass the rest on to a co-conspirator.

Morales pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Tuesday, August 13. She faces 20 years in prison.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has issued several warnings and tips about similar phone scams, which you can read here. For more information on avoiding and reporting scams, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

Consumer complaints can be filed online on the Attorney General’s website.