ILOILO – Mayor Lydia E. Grabato of Mina town said his son is ready to face the charges filed against him over the alleged Ponzi-like investment scheme in the United States.
The mayor, however, emphasized that they have not received any official or legal documents yet such as subpoena or indictment relative to allegation hurled against her son, Rey E. Grabato II.
Their family only got to learn about it through news online, she said.
“Ready na s’ya mag atubang, ngaa abi indi..may due process pa na mo that is why gahulat kami sang documents kay waay kami kabalo kon ano amon atubangon,” said Grabato.
THE CHARGES
In its website, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 14 announced charges against New Jersey-based National Realty Investment Advisors LLC (NRIA) and four of its former executives namely Grabato II of Hoboken, New Jersey; Daniel Coley O’Brien of Southampton, New York; Thomas Nicholas Salzano of Secaucus, New Jersey; and Arthur S. Scutaro of Bloomfield, New Jersey.
They allegedly ran an alleged Ponzi-like scheme that raised approximately $600 million from about 2,000 investors.
According to the US SEC, beginning in 2018 NRIA and its executives raised funds by promising investors their money would be used to buy and develop real estate properties, which would generate profits through a fund that NRIA set up to invest in the projects.
The four accused allegedly solicited investors in a nationwide campaign promising returns of up to 20 percent.
In a separate news release, the United States Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey filed separate charges against Salzano and Grabato II, specifically an 18-count indictment, unsealed Oct. 12, 2022 for alleged conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the US.
READY TO FACE
“Basta kon may ara papeles nga ginapatawag s’ya ukon dapat i-subpoena to s’ya nga atubangon ‘ya, atubangon ‘ya na kay indi pwede nga indi mag-atubang. That is the rule of court to prove yourself innocent, that you are being used, that your name was used…,” she added.
The town mayor also clarified that his son did not escape. She explained that his son went home and currently here in the Philippine since May 8, 2022 to recuperate after he underwent open head surgery in America following an accident in February 2022. He also contracted coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) while under treatment.
Grabato narrated that because of the situation of his son, the family decided to fetch him in the US after his operation and after recovering from COVID-19 so they can tend to him and recuperate here.
She noted that even when his son was still in America, he did not receive any documents about him being accused.
“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 stressed.
His son was supposed to go back to America in June 2022 after recuperating here as his plane ticket was a round-trip one.
Right now, she noted his son is still under medication.
Since he went home in May, he suffered from stroke three times, and oftentimes experience seizures.
Grabato noted that since the case is under investigation, his son is not allowed to talk about it and also because the company has a lawyer who deals with it.
Aside from this, Grabato emphasized that before his son went home in the Philippines, he was already terminated or told to resign on April 2022 and declared incapacitated, and somebody took over to manage the company.
INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY
“Ang importante ma-imbestigar sang insakto kay he is innocent as far as we are concerned unless proven guilty,” she emphasized.
He noted that as far as her son is concerned, he is a Filipino citizen with a green card. He went to the US to study and got the job.
“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.
The mayor said that as far as they know, her son was promoted as manager and later on president of the company.
He was working as an employee and was doing what is being told of him and according to his role and function.
“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…,” Grabato narrated, adding that as far as the investors are concerned, his son has nothing to do with them./PN
