Man Who Raised $1.65 Million to Renovate the Beachcomber Missing

QUINCY, MA — The real estate broker who police say raised $1.65 million from 16 investors as part of a bid to buy the Beachcomber across from Wollaston Beach was a no show at the property deal closing last week.

Now, the Quincy Police Department has issued an arrest warrant for Scott J. Wolas, known to Beachcomber investors as Eugene Grathwohl. If arrested, he will be charged with larceny by single scheme, embezzlement, and identity theft for his involvement in a ponzi-type scheme. There are active warrants in Alabama and New York for similar charges, police say.

Investors believe that Grathwohl, who worked at Century 21 in Quincy, could be the same man who defrauded people for millions of dollars in Orlando and New York City, according to the Boston Globe. They also think that the 67-year-old formally went by the name Allen L. Hengst and defrauded over $6 million from clients as a stockbroker on Florida.

Prior to Florida, he used the name Scott J. M. Wolas and was a lawyer in New York. According to a 1996 investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, he was investigated for his alleged connection to $20 million in fraud. He went missing shortly afterwards and remains a fugitive.

The man formerly known as Wolas was disbarred in 1999 and his firm has reportedly settled a lawsuit with 20 investors for $6 million.

His girlfriend, Lorraine Croft, confirmed that the man had other names and is cooperating with police.

Arthur Foley, manager of the Century 21 office in Quincy, said Grathwohl got his real estate license in 2009 and was suppose to return last Wednesday from a business trip. Police say he was last seen on Sept. 15 at the UMass/JFK train station in Dorchester. Other alias include Frank Amolsch, Drew Prescott, Allen Lee Hengst, and Robert Francis McDowell.

Grathwohl was slated to buy the bar following its closure last year.

If you have any information on Wolas' location you are urged to contact the Quincy Police Department at (617) 479-1212.

Image Credit: Quincy Police Department