De La Cruz accepted cash from agent accused of stealing public funds

Texas Rep. Monica De La Cruz accepted donations from an insurance agent who participated in a scheme to steal public funds.

Jamie Rodriguez made three $500 donations to De La Cruz in 2021 and 2022. The two posed for a photo together at a De La Cruz campaign event last month.

In 2012, Rodriguez was hired to find an insurance provider for the Maverick County Solid Waste Authority (MCSWA), a public utility based in Eagle Pass. The utility was seeking a surety bond that would enable it to operate a landfill.

Rodriguez worked with Carlyle Poindexter, another insurance agent, to place the bond with the Lennox Insurance Company for $3.8 million.

A joint FBI and Texas Department of Insurance investigation later found that Poindexter charged the MCSWA $712,350 in premiums but only forwarded a fraction of those funds to the Lennox Insurance Company, keeping nearly $300,000 for himself.

During the same period, MCSWA paid $82,532 to Poindexter and Rodriguez in commissions.

A Texas Department of Insurance investigator said the men “stole money from the citizens and masked it as legitimate fees.” Poindexter’s insurance agent license was revoked in 2020, while Rodriguez’s was suspended for two years.

The association risks reminding voters of De La Cruz’s own questionable use of public funds.

While campaigning in 2022, De La Cruz criticized a plan to expand the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, which provided financial relief to small businesses struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, even though she and her family accepted grants from the fund to help her own businesses.

De La Cruz is running for a third term this year and is regarded as one of the most vulnerable House Republicans facing reelection. Her Democratic opponent is Tejano musician Bobby Pulido.