Rey Grabato II wanted for $650-M real estate Ponzi scheme: FBI, DOJ
Hoboken, N.J. resident Rey E. Grabato, II is wanted for his alleged participation in a scheme that defrauded approximately 2,000 investors, including hundreds of investors in New Jersey, of over $650 million between February 2018 and January of 2022, according to the FBI website.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Acting as the president and majority owner of National Realty Investment Advisors, LLC (NRIA), a realty investment company, Grabato, II and others allegedly misrepresented the value of NRIA’s investment fund reportedly used to acquire equity interests in companies that invested in real estate assets.
Additionally, between November of 2007 and August of 2022, Grabato, II also allegedly participated in a separate scheme to obstruct, impede, and impair the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in its efforts to collect approximately $26 million in outstanding tax liabilities owed to the United States Government.
On October 12, 2022, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Grabato, II in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey after he was charged with Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud, Securities Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Conspiracy to Defraud the United States with Respect to Tax.
He goes by aliases Rey Encarnacion Grabato, II; Rey Grabato, II; Rey Li Encarnacion Grabato. The FBI said Grabato, II has ties to the Philippines and may be living there.
In 2022, Grabato andaccomplice Thomas Nicholas Salzano, aka “Nicholas Salzano,”64, of Secaucus, N.J., were charged in an 18-count indictment.
“As charged in the indictment, these defendants schemed to create a high-pressure, fraudulent marketing campaign to hoodwink investors into believing that their bogus real estate venture generated substantial profits,” then-U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip Sellinger said in a press release. “In reality, their criminal tactics were straight out of the Ponzi scheme playbook so that they could cheat their investors and line their own pockets. Our message from today’s charges is that we remain deeply committed to rooting out all types of financial fraud schemes. These schemes undermine our markets and erode the public’s trust in investing. Together with our enforcement partners, we will continue to prioritize investigating and prosecuting financial crime in all of its forms.”
For any information concerning Grabato II, the FBI is urging the public to contact their local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. — www.fbi.gov; U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey
