FBI raid home of former Larry Hogan chief of staff accused of $200,000 wire fraud

FBI agents were seen raiding the home of a former Republican Party employee after he failed to appear at a federal trial Monday, on allegations that he used his high-ranking position to steal more than $230,000 in state funds.

After failing to appear, Roy McGrath, 53, was immediately declared a fugitive, prompting agents to raid his $610,000 Florida home on Wednesday.

Indicted in 2021 on federal fraud charges, McGrath served for years as chief of staff to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who left office this January after eight years of service to the Old Line State.

That said, Hogan, a devout Republican who had been tipped by many to run for president in 2024, saw his final years in office marred by McGrath’s alleged wrongdoing, which included a fraudulent $233,647 award that prosecutors say was paid to himself when he quit another state job to take on the fancy political concert.

That payment arrived in McGrath’s bank account in June 2020, after he falsely told his former employer, the Maryland Environmental Service, that the then-governor had approved the payment.

Indicted in 2021 on federal fraud charges, McGrath served for years as chief of staff to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (seen here earlier this month), who stepped down this January after eight years of service at the Old Line. State.

McGrath would resign from Hogan’s office in April 2020 after the six-figure payout was reported, and months later he would be charged with federal wire fraud.

He too he faces multiple additional charges of fraud and embezzlement related to approximately $170,000 in expenses, which prosecutors say the disgraced aide lined his pockets during his tenure as Hogan’s top aide.

Scheduled to appear in Baltimore for the start of his criminal trial on Monday, McGrath left his lawyer alone on the steps of the city’s federal courthouse, prompting US marshals to post a wanted poster for Hogan’s former employee a day after.

Less than 48 hours later, federal agents were seen breaking into the three-bedroom Naples home McGrath shares with his wife, Laura Bruner, as the woman looked on desperately.

McGrath, however, was conspicuously absent, meaning the manhunt for the alleged scammer continues.

Prosecutors allege he has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state, including the aforementioned severance pay he obtained after leaving his position as executive director of the Maryland Environmental Service.

The state further alleges that McGrath also lied about the hours he worked in the course of his employment, taking multiple vacations with money from the state.

The feds invaded this Naples home that McGrath shares with his wife on Wednesday, less than 48 hours after he failed to appear in court. The couple moved into a $610,000 home in 2020, after scandal broke and McGrath was released on bail.

Scheduled to appear in Baltimore for the start of his criminal trial on Monday, McGrath left his lawyer standing alone on the steps of the city’s federal courthouse, prompting US marshals to post this wanted poster later that day.

During those excursions, McGrath’s 2021 indictment alleges, the former Hogan staffer spent funds designated for the state of Maryland on his own “personal expenses.”

That spending came to light after a lengthy report by The Baltimore Sun in the summer of 2020, which exposed how McGrath he had used his position as director of MES and chief of staff to the governor to “enrich himself personally” from the fraudulent payments.

The Sun’s report saw McGrath’s time as Hogan’s bureau chief cut short, after just 11 weeks. He would resign four days later, while facing a federal investigation.

At the time, Hogan, who served two consecutive terms from 2015 to 2023, repeatedly denied knowing or approving of the severance pay unmasked by The Sun.