Jewelry Store Owner Sentenced to Prison for $3.9M Cash Advance Scheme
In a shocking turn of events, a Texas jewelry store owner has been ordered to spend 27 months behind bars for a brazen cash advance scheme that left customers out of pocket millions of dollars.
Santiago Mora, 40, of Katy, Texas, was sentenced to the prison term by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen following a guilty plea to wire fraud charges.
Mora’s scheme involved impersonating his business partner and using the partner’s good credit to obtain $500,000 in merchant cash advances via wire transfer. The cash advances were meant to pay off customers, including one who was owed $3.9 million in pre-paid Rolex watches.
However, Mora failed to deliver the watches, leaving the customer in the lurch. It was only when he admitted to his fraudulent dealings to his business partner that the scheme began to unravel.
Mora, who was co-owner of Alku Modern Jewelers in Katy, was taken into custody in Miami, Florida, in June 2021 after failing to appear in court for further proceedings.
He will now remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI conducted the investigation into Mora’s crimes, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tina Ansari and Grace Murphy prosecuted the case.
Mandatory Facts:
Defendant: Santiago Mora
Criminal Charges: Wire fraud
City and State: Houston, Texas
Date: March 3, 2023 (plea), June 2021 (arrest)
Sentence: 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release
Dollar Amounts: $500,000 in merchant cash advances, $3.9 million in pre-paid Rolex watches
Related Federal Cases
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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