Puerto Rico: Cruise passenger jumps overboard to evade $16K Casino debt, arrested

Puerto Rico: The luxury voyage aboard Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas took a dramatic turn when a passenger leapt overboard in a bid to evade a gambling debt of over $16,000. He was rescued by jet skis and subsequently arrested and later charged with a federal crime.

According to a criminal complaint, Jey González Díaz was reportedly traveling on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas from August 31, when the incident took place on September 7.

Reportedly as passengers were exiting the cruise, Díaz in an attempt to avoid a hefty gambling debt of over $16,000 to the cruise line, jumped overboard on around 9 a.m. local time. However the debtor’s attempt failed as he was swiftly brought ashore by people on jet skis where he was arrested by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers near the Capitol Building in Puerto Rico.

Earning himself fresh charges of federal crime with accusations of an attempt to avoid monetary reporting requirements when traveling into the U.S.

The Royal Caribbean Cruise told authorities that Díaz owed them $16,710.24 with the amount, almost exclusively associated with the Casino and Gaming expenses.

Claims that Díaz denied, as he told the officials in Spanish that he thought he was going to be taxed for bringing in a different currency and that's why he had jumped off the ship, because he did not want to report the currency which was in his possession.

The authorities proceeded to search him, and to their surprise they found Díaz to be in possession of  $14,600 worth of cash, along with five different IDs and two phones.

One of the five identification cards found included a Tennessee ID and a birth certificate for a "Jeremy Omar González Díaz” and a Royal Caribbean boarding pass with the name "Jeremy Díaz" written on it.

Without any boarding pass for Jey Díaz,  the authorities proceeded to process the identification and found out that the birth certificate and the boarding pass that belonged to Jeremy Omar González Díaz were not Jey’s and Jeremy had reportedly been in federal prison in Puerto Rico since January.

While Jey González Díaz claimed to the authorities that Jeremy was his brother, Jey was released on bail as the authorities continue their investigations. He stands to face up to 5 years in prison, or a fine of up to $250,000 if found guilty by the court.