Rey Grabato II, the son of a sitting mayor from Iloilo province in the Central Philippines, has been listed among the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted Fraudsters over an alleged $650‑million investment scheme that defrauded some 2,000 investors across the United States. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to his arrest, with the Philippine‑born fugitive believed to be hiding in his home province while facing a string of federal charges including securities fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion.
In a development that has drawn international attention, Rey Grabato II, the son of a sitting mayor from the province of Iloilo in the Central Philippines, has been named to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s prestigious and closely watched list of Most Wanted Fraudsters. The announcement, made public by the FBI on August 13, 2026, with details reported widely across the Philippines on August 14 and 15, places Grabato at the center of one of the largest alleged investment fraud schemes ever attributed to an individual with deep ties to the country, with losses estimated at more than six hundred and fifty million United States dollars. The FBI is offering a reward of up to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for information leading directly to his arrest and conviction, signaling the seriousness with which United States authorities view the case and the urgency with which they hope to locate and extradite him.
According to documents released by the FBI and the United States Department of Justice, Grabato, together with co‑defendant Thomas Nicholas Salzano, is alleged to have orchestrated an elaborate financial fraud scheme that ran from February 2018 through January 2022, convincing approximately two thousand investors hundreds of whom resided in New Jersey to entrust their money under false pretenses. As president and majority owner of National Realty Investment Advisors LLC, a real‑estate investment firm based in Secaucus, New Jersey, Grabato is accused of systematically misrepresenting the actual value of the company’s investment fund, presenting inflated and wholly misleading figures to prospective and current investors in order to create the appearance of a thriving, profitable enterprise capable of delivering substantial returns.
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Prosecutors maintain that the true financial state of the fund was concealed, and that capital raised from new investors was repeatedly used to make payments to earlier participants, creating a structure that functioned like a Ponzi‑type operation while giving the impression of legitimate, asset‑backed growth. In reality, properties acquired or developed by the firm failed to generate the projected income, and the financial information provided to investors was adjusted and manipulated to hide shortfalls, mask losses, and prevent the scheme from collapsing under its own weight.
The scope of the allegations extends well beyond the investment fraud itself. Grabato is additionally accused of running a separate, years‑long effort intended to obstruct the United States Internal Revenue Service in the collection of unpaid taxes, with approximately twenty‑six million dollars in outstanding liabilities allegedly concealed from federal authorities over a period stretching from November 2007 through August 2022. This separate tax‑related conspiracy, described in the federal indictment as a sustained and deliberate attempt to evade tax liability, adds yet another layer of gravity to the charges and underscores the breadth of alleged misconduct attributed to him. In total, he now faces a comprehensive set of federal charges in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Division, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to taxes charges that collectively carry substantial prison sentences upon conviction. A formal federal arrest warrant was issued by the Newark court on October 12, 2022, meaning Grabato has been a fugitive from justice for nearly four years as of his public listing on the Most Wanted Fraudsters roster.
Investigators have noted with particular interest Grabato’s movements in the period immediately following the warrant’s issuance. According to accounts shared by his family in the Philippines, he traveled to the municipality of Mina in Iloilo Province in May 2022, arriving to recover from brain surgery he had undergone in the United States following an accident. He has reportedly remained outside the United States ever since, and the FBI has confirmed in public notices that he maintains significant personal and family ties to the Philippines and is currently believed to be residing in the country. He is the son and namesake of Rey Grabato, the incumbent Mayor of Mina, and Lydia Grabato, who previously served as the town’s mayor placing him squarely within a prominent local political family and raising questions as to his whereabouts and the length of his stay in the Philippines while United States authorities have sought his return. Philippine authorities have not yet issued any public statement regarding extradition proceedings, local investigative steps, or confirmation of his location within the country, leaving the precise status of his presence here uncertain.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission had previously filed a civil action against National Realty Investment Advisors and several of its executives in October 2022, outlining a pattern of deception in which investors were promised annual returns of as much as twenty percent on funds said to be used to acquire and develop commercial and residential real‑estate projects. Instead, authorities allege, investor funds were diverted through a complex network of shell companies and separate accounts, used to pay earlier investors to maintain the appearance of success, expended on personal and luxury purchases for company principals, and channeled into efforts to suppress unfavorable information about the firm’s operations all while the true financial condition of the enterprise was carefully hidden from view. Grabato is said to have exercised primary control over company bank accounts, enabling the alleged misappropriation of funds and the creation of false accounting entries designed to make unauthorized transfers appear as legitimate business expenses.
By placing Grabato on its Most Wanted Fraudsters list, the FBI has effectively elevated the case to international prominence, hoping that public awareness will prompt tips from members of the public that lead to his apprehension. The reward of up to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars is among the highest routinely offered in financial‑crime cases, reflecting both the scale of the alleged loss and the challenges authorities face in locating a suspect who has had nearly four years to establish residence and who enjoys family connections and familiarity within the Philippines. Extradition between the United States and the Philippines is possible under existing bilateral treaties, but the process can be lengthy, complex, and subject to legal challenge meaning that even once located, Grabato’s return to the United States to face the multiple charges against him is far from guaranteed.
For the community of Mina in Iloilo and across the broader Philippine public, the case carries added resonance, combining allegations of massive financial wrongdoing with the family name of elected local officials. The Grabato name has long been closely associated with public service in the municipality, and the revelation that the mayor’s son stands accused of defrauding thousands of people of sums approaching seven hundred million dollars while also evading millions more in taxes owed to the United States government has come as a shock to many residents. Questions have begun to be raised as to whether his business activities in the United States were known locally, whether he remains in contact with family members holding public office, and whether any local resources or influence have been employed to assist him in avoiding United States authorities. No answers have yet been provided publicly, and the Mayor’s Office in Mina has thus far remained silent regarding the allegations or his current whereabouts.
As matters stand, Rey Grabato II remains at large. United States authorities continue to pursue all available avenues to locate him and secure his return, while the FBI’s public appeal for information ensures that his name and description will remain widely disseminated. Whether he will choose to surrender, attempt to remain in the Philippines indefinitely, or be located and extradited through formal diplomatic channels are questions yet to be answered. What is already clear is that the scale of the alleged fraud, the substantial tax‑evasion charges, the political profile of his family in the Philippines, and the decision to list him among the FBI’s Most Wanted have combined to create a case of unusual international interest one that will likely continue to unfold across headlines and courtrooms on both sides of the Pacific for quite some time to come.