EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A former Morgan Stanley financial adviser has been sentenced to 14 years in state prison after stealing thousands of dollars from his elderly aunt and uncle, the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office said.
The DA’s Office says Jesus Rodriguez De La Cruz, 46, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Oct. 14, during a hearing. He pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including two counts of financial abuse of an elderly person, two counts of exploitation of an elderly person and one count of theft of property.
Rodriguez’s aunt and uncle alerted the El Paso Police Financial Crimes Unit in February 2023 to fraudulent activity on their Well’s Fargo account that led to that account being depleted of all money, which totaled to $73,000.
Rodriguez’s uncle told police that his nephew’s name was listed on the transactions resulting in the account’s depletion and that the transactions were unauthorized.
The DA’s Office says Rodriguez had gained access to the banking information because he had also worked as their financial adviser. The couple had also lent him $60,000 before discovering the missing money, and checks Rodriguez made out as a repayment were discovered to be fake.
An investigation revealed that in 2022, Rodriguez had used his aunt and uncle’s money on luxury vehicles, retail shopping sprees, and vacations including a trip to Mexico City during the Formula 1 Racing championship, the DA’s Office said.
As KTSM 9 News previously reported, Rodriguez had previously lost his job at Morgan Stanley in El Paso after committing a multi-million dollar fraud scheme.
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