Fugitive search underway for ex-Hogan chief of staff who allegedly stole $276,000

An interstate examination is underway for a one-time chief of personnel to previous Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan after he stopped working to appear in court on Monday, the United States Marshals Service stated.

Roy C. McGrath, 53, who functioned as the leading assistant to Hogan, a Republican politician, for a couple of months throughout the summer season of 2020, is dealing with charges in relation to a supposed plan to bilk Maryland out of more than $276,000.

McGrath has actually pleaded innocent to all the charges and was launched on bond, the United States Marshals Service stated in a declaration Tuesday. He was because of appear in a federal court in Baltimore and is now thought about a “desired fugitive.”.

McGrath was prosecuted by a federal grand jury in October 2021 on charges that he defrauded the Maryland Environmental Service, a state-operated corporation where he functioned as executive director prior to signing up with Hogan’s workplace, of a $233,647.23 severance payment by “wrongly informing them that the Guv knew and authorized the payment,” the Justice Department stated.

The indictment likewise declares that McGrath directed MES funds to an art museum on which he belonged to the board of directors so regarding prevent spending for a promise out of his own pocket, defrauded MES to spend for a tuition expenditure of more than $14,000 and falsified time sheets throughout 2 trips.

McGrath was at first charged with wire scams and embezzlement from a company getting more than $10,000 in federal advantages, and a superseding indictment returned in June 2022 likewise charged him with falsifying records. On the state level, he is dealing with felony theft charges and an offense of the state’s wiretap law, the Justice Department stated.

CNN has actually connected to McGrath’s lawyer. When he resigned from Hogan’s workplace in August 2020 amidst questions about the severance payment, McGrath blamed the “unfortunate politics of individual damage” and stated he was stepping down to prevent “unneeded diversions” to Hogan and his group.

McGrath deals with years in jail if he’s founded guilty of all the charges versus him, though the Justice Department acknowledged that real sentences are usually less than the optimum charges.