President Joe Biden, who is set to leave office in less than a month, is currently on what will likely be the last vacation of his presidency.

Biden and members of his family were spotted on Thursday as they arrived on St. Croix of the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, where they are expected to stay until at least the start of the New Year, according to The Virgin Islands Daily News.

Vacationing on St. Croix during the week between Christmas and New Year's has become a near-annual tradition for the Biden family that dates back to at least his time as the vice president, and has become such a regular occurrence that local residents have begun referring to the president as "Crucian Joe."

Is Biden paying market rates for his vacation lodging?

President Biden's likely final vacation away from the White House is not without controversy, of course, as the New York Post reported that ethics concerns have been raised about the property where the Biden family will stay for their week on St. Croix.

As they have done in recent years, the Bidens will stay at a luxurious beachside villa owned by billionaire business owners and Democratic donors Bill and Connie Neville, who are considered personal friends and were invited guests to a 2022 State Dinner at the White House.

The potential problem here is that there are no records that indicate that the Bidens have paid anything to stay in the three bed, three bath, beachfront residence that boasts a pool and other luxury amenities and is typically listed as available to renters for $900 per night on VRBO.

That is just part of a broader trend seen over the past few years of the Biden family staying rent-free at the homes or vacation properties of their ultra-wealthy friends and donors in places like California and Nevada as well as South Carolina and Massachusetts, among others.

Unreported "gifts" could be a federal crime

If, in fact, the Bidens are staying rent-free at the St. Croix rental property owned by the Nevilles, their lodging could be considered a "gift" that, unsurprisingly, has not been reported as required on annual ethics forms, per the Post.

Indeed, the controversy of not claiming the "gift" on required forms could go beyond mere ethics violations and constitute a federal crime, under the auspices of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison for "knowingly and willfully" making "any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or ... any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry."

Former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter, a former anti-Trump Republican turned pro-Biden Democrat, previously told the Post with some regret that the president could conceivably face criminal charges for failing to properly report the "gift" of rent-free lodging at a vacation property owned by wealthy friends and donors.

"It really hurts the Democrats because they have always been claiming to be the party of the people, and yet, time and time again, you find the president in the United States staying in the house of a billionaire," Painter told the outlet after a prior Biden vacation at a billionaire's home.

"The problem is the not disclosing. And it makes it very hard for those of us who are very critical of the Supreme Court justices who are not disclosing this kind of stuff," he added in reference to the concerted ethics attacks against conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito over alleged unreported "gifts."

Fits with family history of "grift and corruption"

Another attorney with concerns about possible ethics violations by the Bidens is Mark Paoletta, who is set to reprise his role from President-elect Donald Trump's first term as the top lawyer for the White House budget office.

In May, following a report that exposed how President Biden had failed to include any of his unpaid vacation stays on ethics forms, Paoletta told the Post, "His habit of taking over donors’ homes for vacations and not paying nor disclosing is consistent with his family’s long history of grift and corruption."