Cruise ship passenger jumps overboard to avoid paying $16K gambling debt, police say

A man was arrested last weekend after authorities said he leapt off of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in order to avoid paying a $16,000 gambling debt.

Jey Gonzalez-Diaz jumped off the Rhapsody of the Seas near the Port of Suan Juan, Puerto Rico, at around 9:15 a.m. Sunday during a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection. The ship was coming back from a trip to Barbados.

Gonzalez-Diaz was taken to shore by someone nearby on a jet ski. Police later found him near the Puerto Rico Capitol Building, according to CBS News. He had $14,600 in cash, two phones and five IDs on him.

He told police that he jumped off the ship because “he did not want to report the currency on his possession because he thought he was going to be taxed duties for bring in the currency.”

When asked for his full name, he told officers, “If you guys were good at your job, you would know that,” according to a criminal complaint.

Royal Caribbean, however, told police that Gonzalez-Diaz had booked his trip under the name Jeremy Diaz, and that he owed $16,710.24 to the cruise line from gambling on the ship.

Gonzalez-Diaz is charged with attempting to avoid monetary reporting requirements when traveling into the U.S. If convicted he faces up to a $250,000 fine and/or five years in prison.