A Colorado man accused of using a cannabis investment scheme to defraud a local resident has pleaded not guilty to one criminal count.
Electronic court records indicate that Andrew Cruz, 38, entered the plea to one count of fraud over $20,000 on Wednesday during a first appearance in Chaves County Magistrate Court. Magistrate Judge K.C. Rogers subsequently ordered Cruz released on his own recognizance while he awaits trial on the charge.
Aaron Mitchell, an attorney representing Cruz, told the Roswell Daily Record in a phone interview on Thursday that his client traveled to Roswell and turned himself in at the Chaves County Detention Center (CCDC) upon learning that there was an active warrant for his arrest.
The criminal complaint stated that the victim notified police he had sent a combined total of $50,000 over the course of a year to a friend in Colorado, later identified as Cruz, to invest the money in various cannabis enterprises.
According to the complaint, the victim began sending money to Cruz through an app after they began talking on social media on Oct 14, 2023, and Cruz offered the victim a business opportunity in the cannabis industry.
Cruz would allegedly instruct the victim to buy a percentage of shares of an unnamed cannabis company. The complaint stated that Cruz initially asked the victim to send him $10,000 directly. In exchange, Cruz said that the cannabis company would cut him a deal for 5% of the company.
During those conversations, Cruz allegedly told the victim through text messages that if he sent him more money, he could make up to $100,000.
“Mr Cruz continued to offer investment opportunities with eventual payments amounting to more than $1.1 million by the end of December,” the complaint stated.
The victim also said Cruz had sent him a text message in September in which Cruz said he planned to fly the victim to Colorado before December. He then received a text message claiming that Cruz had fallen into a coma and passed away. The victim had not received the money that was promised to him.
Roswell Police later learned that Cruz might live in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado. That information was proven false. However, Roswell Police did receive a copy of Cruz’s driver’s license, which stated that he lived in Ordway, Colorado.
Investigators later learned that Cruz worked at a nursing center. When police called the nursing center, staff confirmed that Cruz was employed there but that he was not available.
Roswell Police later received a call from an attorney who claimed to represent Cruz, who was attempting to obtain information about the incident. However, Cruz did not take part in the call. The attorney said that Cruz had chosen to exercise his 5th Amendment right under the Constitution against self-incrimination.
