ILOILO – The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has included the son of Mina, Iloilo mayor Rey Grabato on its “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list and offered a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to his arrest over an alleged $650-million investment fraud scheme.
The FBI announced the inclusion on the list through its official Facebook page on Thursday night, Aug. 13, Philippine time.
“Rey E. Grabato II has been added to the #FBI Most Wanted Fraudsters List. Grabato is wanted for conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the US with respect to tax,” the FBI stated.
According to the FBI, Grabato allegedly participated in a scheme that defrauded approximately 2,000 investors, including hundreds in New Jersey, of more than $650 million from February 2018 to January 2022.
Grabato served as president and majority owner of National Realty Investment Advisors, LLC (NRIA), a real estate investment company.
He and his alleged co-conspirators purportedly misrepresented the value of NRIA’s investment fund, which was reportedly used to acquire equity interests in companies investing in real estate assets.
The FBI also accused Grabato of participating in a separate scheme from November 2007 to August 2022 to obstruct and impair the US Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to collect approximately $26 million in outstanding tax liabilities owed to the federal government.
A federal arrest warrant was issued against him on Oct. 12, 2022, by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark.
DENIAL
The Grabato family had yet to issue an official statement on the FBI announcement as of press time.
But in a 2022 interview with Panay News, Lydia Grabato, then the mayor of Mina, said her son was prepared to face the accusations and denied that he had fled the United States.
She said Rey II returned to the Philippines on May 8, 2022, to recuperate after undergoing open-head surgery in the United States following an accident in February of that year.
The family fetched him after his operation and recovery from COVID-19 so they could care for him in the Philippines, she added.
Lydia claimed her son had not received any document concerning the accusations while he was still in the United States.
“Indi na s’ya makagwa sa America kon may kaso s’ya. That’s why gintagaan s’ya permit to travel at his own risk kay bangod ang ulo ya may operation,” she said.
Rey II was supposed to return to the United States in June 2022 using a round-trip ticket, but Lydia said her son remained under medication after suffering three strokes and frequent seizures.
She also said he could not publicly discuss the case because it was still under investigation and the company’s lawyer was handling it.
Lydia further said her son had already been terminated or asked to resign in April 2022, declared incapacitated, and replaced by another person in managing the company.
“Ang importante ma-imbestigar sang insakto, kay he is innocent as far as we are concerned, unless proven guilty,” she emphasized.
She said her son, a Filipino citizen and US green-card holder, went to the United States to study before securing employment there.
“There are people here nga daw lain ya guro ila katuyoan. They make a big thing out of it without giving due process to a person being allegedly accused. Amo lang na naanuhan ko kay daw ka-unfair bala nga asta ako dal-on, asta ako i-declare nga bad nanay because of my son. Wala pa gani sila kabalo kon ano to,” she lamented.
According to Lydia, her son started as an employee before he was promoted to manager and later appointed president of NRIA.
“He was promoted sa babaw as manager hasta nga nag-establish sila sang company nga NRIA ang ngalan kag pagkatapos kinanglan president, ginbutang s’ya president because acceptable ang ngalan ya. Meaning to say good taxpayer s’ya sa iya taxes and may green card s’ya. So pag-register sina, ang ila kompaniya amo man gihapon gabakal sang properties – investment, gapatigayon loan sa bangko kag nagabaligya sang balay nga na-refurbish na. They started from there. Later on, nag-expand, still the company under his name as CEO and president and owner…kay may grupo nga executives nga nag-join sa ila kompaniya nga sila ga-handle sang expansion. Kon ano ila rules and regulations, kon ano na sila, si Rey ya wala na naga-imbestigar…,” Lydia narrated, adding that, as far as the investors were concerned, her son had nothing to do with them./PN
