A woman was charged Wednesday with running a scheme to steal royalty checks from her estranged husband who is Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer, authorities said.
Erin Seal, 35, of Lindenwold, was charged with theft for allegedly stealing from Manuel Seal, 60, who is a former Toms River resident, according to a release from the Ocean Prosecutor’s Office.
An investigation uncovered that Erin had about $100,000 of Manuel’s royalty checks forwarded directly to her between May 2018 and April 2020, the office said.
Erin allegedly used an unidentified family member to cash the checks under the guise that she was lawfully entitled to them and used fake emails she said were sent from Manuel to back up her claims, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a statement.
Erin, accompanied by her attorney, surrendered herself to detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, was processed and was released pending a future court date, the office said.
Manuel Seal has worked with numerous pop, hip hop and R&B artists since the early 1990s and won a Grammy Award for his work on Mariah Carey’s 2005 song “We Belong Together.” He has also worked with the likes of Janet Jackson, Usher and Nelly throughout his career.
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.