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A FBI wanted poster for Roy C. McGrath, the former chief of staff of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
The FBI and the U.S. Marshals offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s former chief of staff Roy McGrath, calling the accused fraudster an “international flight risk.”
McGrath, 53, was charged last October on a six-count federal indictment accusing him of defrauding the state of $276,731. Each of the four wire fraud counts of his indictment carried a possible 20-year sentence. Each of the two embezzlement counts had a maximum 10-year sentence. That was before a superseding indictment added two additional counts, and McGrath faces state charges as well.
At the time of his federal indictment, the FBI special agent in charge of the Baltimore office delivered a statement stating that McGrath “misappropriated public money for his own benefit.”
“From personal travel to even obtaining a certificate from one of the most prestigious universities in the nation, McGrath’s alleged actions were self-serving and ultimately self-sabotaging,” Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski said.
McGrath, the former director of Maryland Environmental Services (MES) and Hogan aide, pleaded not guilty and was released on bail pending trial.
As highlighted on his FBI “Wanted” poster, McGrath faces additional criminal exposure for failure to appear. Born in Greece, McGrath didn’t show up to his scheduled trial on March 13, and he officially has been declared a fugitive. The FBI initially offered $10,000 for information leading to his location, arrest, and prosecution, but they reportedly doubled that award after teaming up with the U.S. Marshals.
Both the state and federal cases allege that McGrath kept public money that wasn’t his. Prosecutors say that McGrath pledged to donate to a museum where he served on the Board of Directors, but funneled money from his old employer MES to pay his personal pledge to the institution. McGrath also allegedly swindled MES into approving a $233,647.23 severance payment for him — equal to one year’s salary with that office — by falsely claiming that Hogan approved the payment.
Prosecutors also claim that McGrath soaked MES out of paying his tuition benefits and falsified his time sheets, allegedly billing for work during two separate unpaid vacations in 2019.
State prosecutors say that McGrath illegally recorded private conversations involving senior state officials without their permission during his tenure at MES and later as the governor’s chief of staff.
Authorities say that McGrath also has ties to Naples, Florida.
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