Federal prosecutors in Puerto Rico charged a man this week with jumping off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship to get out of paying over $16,000 in onboard gambling debt.
The Royal Caribbean ship Rhapsody of the Seas left San Juan, Puerto Rico, for Barbados on Aug. 31 and returned Sunday. Jey Gonzalez-Diaz is accused of jumping off the boat while it disembarked, according to a criminal complaint cited by CBS News. A person on a passing jet ski brought him to shore.
Royal Caribbean told investigators that Mr. Gonzalez-Diaz used the name Jeremy Diaz and that he owed the cruise line $16,710.24, most of it for casino spending, CBS reported.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection found $14,600, a backpack, a handbag, two mobile devices and five identifying documents on Mr. Gonzalez-Diaz, according to Fox Business. He eventually told investigators that Jeremy, whose name was on some of the documents, is his brother who has been locked up in prison for months.
Mr. Gonzalez-Diaz told investigators that he didn’t want to declare the money out of concern it was subject to taxation, according to San Juan’s WAPA-TV.
He’s charged with failure to report the transport of monetary instruments of more than $10,000 from outside the U.S., reported CBS.
Royal Caribbean Group, the cruise line’s parent company, told USA Today that “we are working with authorities and don’t have any more information to share.”
