Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that Erin Seal, 35, of Lindenwold, New Jersey, has been charged with stealing music royalty payments belonging to her estranged husband.

An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crimes Unit revealed that Erin Seal devised a scheme to have music royalty checks made payable to her estranged husband, Manuel Seal, 60, formerly of Toms River, for his work as a Grammy Award winning songwriter and producer, forwarded directly to her. Erin Seal utilized a family member to cash those checks under the guise that she was lawfully entitled to them and relied upon fake emails purportedly sent by the victim to the defendant to support her criminal scheme. During the time period spanning May 2018 through April 2020, Erin Seal fraudulently received approximately $100,000.

On December 2, 2020, Seal surrendered herself to Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crimes Unit. She was processed, and released on a summons pending a future court date.