McAllen real estate attorney charged with stealing from clients
McALLEN — An attorney accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a client’s investment account has turned himself in to authorities, McAllen police said Tuesday.
Investigators believe Rogelio Ibañez, 44, stole nearly $300,000 from a real estate investment firm that had hired him to hold the funds as part of a tax deferment plan.
But when it came time to return the money, he stopped returning their phone calls and left the account it was held in with a negative balance, according to the probable cause affidavit filed in his case.
Ibañez — whose offices are near the intersection of North 10th Street and Dove Avenue in McAllen — did not return calls for comment Tuesday. But court documents detail the extent of his purported crime.
In February 2009, Ibañez helped broker a $1 million property sale for McAllen-based Y.D.A. Investments and agreed to hold onto the proceeds for possible re-investment.
Under a program known as a 1031 Exchange, the Internal Revenue Service allows owners of investment property to defer paying taxes on sales if the money is re-invested in another property purchase within 180 days. The owner, however, cannot touch the funds and the initial sale must be coordinated with a designated intermediary managing a trust account.
But when Y.D.A. decided it would not re-invest the full $1 million, Ibañez was unable to pay them the remaining sum.
At the time, his trust fund had been closed due to a negative balance, the affidavit states
Y.D.A. – which had its state business license revoked in June — filed a complaint with the State Bar of Texas that resulted in a suspension of the attorney’s license last year, but only pressed criminal charges against him last month.
Although officers had issued a warrant for Ibañez’s arrest on theft charges shortly thereafter, he turned himself in Friday, McAllen police Chief Victor Rodriguez said. He was booked and released on a $10,000 bond from the Hidalgo County jail the same day.
Ibañez now faces one count of theft, a first-degree felony. If convicted, he could face up to 99 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 587-9377.
