Financial advisor sentenced for fraud scheme
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Federal prosecutors announced the sentencing of a former Morgan Stanley financial advisor accused of committing a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. Jesus Rodriguez de la Cruz, 46, received a 12-year prison sentence.
Court documents state that de la Cruz defrauded Morgan Stanley and clients through "materially false pretenses, representations and promises."
"Rodriguez de la Cruz orchestrated fraudulent transfers of funds from the bank accounts of Morgan Stanley and clients to other bank accounts for his own benefit," federal prosecutors explained.
Prosecutors say de la Cruz fraudulently transferred about $125,000 to buy a Lamborghini. The alleged fraud happened between May 2018 and August 2021, officials say.
"In one instance, Rodriguez de la Cruz created false communications and documents impersonating a client and submitted them to Morgan Stanley personnel to cause fraudulent transfers on the client’s line of credit account for personal profit. One of these included a form that falsely claimed the client had verbally authorized the transfer of $48,575.36 for the purchase of real estate in El Paso. Relying on the documentation, Morgan Stanley initiated the wire transfer from the client’s account to an account at a separate financial institution belonging to one of Rodriguez de la Cruz’s family members."
Prosecutors also say Rodriguez did not report any embezzled funds as income tax from 2017 through 2021, therefore allegedly causing a loss of $408,055 for the IRS.
A federal grand jury indicted de la Cruz in December 2023. He was arrested in January 2024 and he pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of wire fraud, one count of engaging in monetary transactions using criminal proceeds, ID theft, and making and subscribing a false income tax return.
