A close business associate and fraternity brother of former House speaker and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez has resurfaced in a second multi-million-dollar property transaction in a wealthy enclave in Connecticut, United States.
This discovery also brings to six the number of properties purchased, or that changed hands among Romualdez associates since he became House speaker in 2022, based on Rappler’s own investigations.
The 9,967-square-foot house has five bedrooms and five bathrooms, and sits on a 10.54-acre (4.2-hectare) estate.
Documents obtained by Rappler show that a company linked to lawyer Andrew Casiño acquired a high-value estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, in September 2022, three months after Romualdez was elected speaker. This was transferred to another registered company in July 2025, at the height of the controversies involving Romualdez in the flood control corruption scandal.
MILLIONS. Instagram posts of a real estate agent show the Connecticut property being sold for $6.9 million in 2022.
Casiño is a fraternity brother of Romualdez at Upsilon Sigma Phi and currently sits on the board of Romualdez-owned Benguet Corporation.
The transaction not only mirrored the process used for a P130-million Massachusetts property linked to Romualdez that we exposed in October 2025, but also took place in the very same month.
The Office of the Ombudsman is investigating Romualdez for his alleged role in the flood control corruption scandal and supposed money laundering activities, which prompted the anti-graft court to stop him from traveling abroad.
In April, he broke his silence in a video where he denied corruption allegations against him and pointed to other lawmakers and executive officials.
The Connecticut property was first listed for sale in January 2022 at $6.9 million (P425.2 million). Several months later, in September 2022, a warranty deed for the estate was filed, listing USP85 LLC as the recipient.
WARRANTY DEED A warranty deed filed in September 2022, listing USP85 LLC as the recipient of the Greenwich estate.
A warranty deed is a legal document usually used by sellers as proof they legally own the property and have the right to transfer it. A US-based realtor told Rappler that it provides assurances that the title is clean, and that the buyer may have legal recourse against the seller if a problem later emerges.
USP85 LLC is identified in the records as a company registered in Rhode Island, although no matching entity could be found in that state’s business database. The company, however, appears in records to be from the state of New York.
Registration papers show that USP85 LLC shares the same registered address as Casiño’s law firm in Woodside, Queens, as recorded in New York’s Unified Court System. Woodside is home to one of the largest Filipino-American communities in New York City.
The warranty deed also bears Casiño’s full name and signature, which match those found in other documents reviewed by Rappler in relation to another transaction involving a $2.24-million property in Massachusetts and other business dealings in the Philippines.
UPSILON. Both Ferdinand Romualdez and Andrew Casiño joined the fraternity in 1985, according to various articles.
The company’s name also appears noteworthy. “USP85” could be interpreted as a reference to Upsilon Sigma Phi and the year Romualdez joined the fraternity.
Rappler reached out to Romualdez to ask about the Connecticut property. We first sent questions via email to his office at the House of Representatives and his official Facebook page, as well as through Viber and the native iPhone messaging app to his two known mobile numbers, on June 10. We followed up through the same channels on June 11, 15, 16, 17, and 18.
His office at the House of Representatives opened our follow-up emails sent on June 15, 16, 17, and 18, but no response has been received.
Rappler also sought Casiño’s comments through his New York law office’s publicly-listed email address, as well as via Viber and the native iPhone messaging app using his publicly-listed cellphone number, on June 10. We followed up through the same channels on June 11, 15, 16, 17, and 18.
Our email tracking indicated that the law firm address opened our emails on June 11, 15, 16, and 17, but no response has been received.
We will update this story once they respond.
The Connecticut property
Listed for $6.9 million (P425.2 million), the house is located in the affluent Greenwich town in Fairfield county, Connecticut.
Much of Connecticut’s wealth is concentrated in Fairfield, which recorded the state’s highest median household income at $172,432 (P10.6 million) in 2024. It also ranks among the top 10 to 20 counties nationwide based on income, according to the US Bureau of Census.
Greenwich, meanwhile, stands out as one of the highest town-level median household incomes in Connecticut at $206,130 (P12.7 million) in 2024.
LUXURY. Photos of the property from real estate agency The Agency’s website accessed via Wayback Machine.
A writeup on a real estate company’s website described the property built in 1991 as “a true rarity with brilliant architectural significance.” It was designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern, who was also behind other luxurious residential condominiums mostly along the so-called Billionaires Row in Manhattan, New York.
“The pool with waterfall feature, firepit, expansive terrace and picturesque grounds are all extraordinary, but it is the lake that makes this offering even that much more special,” the listing stated.
From one company to another
Another significant transaction took place nearly three years after the property changed hands.
QUITCLAIM DEED Ownership of the estate was transferred to a company called Lake Corp. through a quitclaim deed signed by Casiño on July 1, 2025.
Ownership of the estate was transferred to a company called Lake Corp. through a quitclaim deed signed by Casiño on July 1, 2025. The Greenwich town clerk’s office also confirmed to Rappler in a phone call on May 27 that Lake Corp. is now the property’s owner. The full name of the corporation is being withheld in this report as it contains the property’s complete address.
A quitclaim deed, like a warranty deed, is a legal instrument used to transfer an ownership interest in real property. The key difference lies in the level of protection given to the recipient.
Another US-based real estate professional told Rappler that quitclaim deeds are common but are generally viewed as “riskier” because they provide fewer assurances to the recipient.
As a result, they are often used for “non-adversarial or internal transfers” where no third-party sale is taking place. Examples include transfers between family members, divorce settlements, estate planning, or any situation “where parties already know and trust each other.”
A separate US-based property broker also explained the same, telling Rappler on June 2 that “quitclaim deeds are usually used between family members or to clear up title issues where no money is changing hands.”
The explanation is similar to the one offered by Romualdez after Rappler published in October 2025 an investigation into the transfer of a Massachusetts property linked to him. The former House speaker said the transfer through a quitclaim deed was carried out “solely for property management purposes.”
The absence of an apparent third-party buyer is also reflected in public real estate records. The Greenwich estate was not listed as being for sale on major property websites around 2025, the year when the quitclaim was signed. The latest activity recorded on these platforms was its September 2022 sale to USP85.
The property’s history also lends support to the notion that quitclaim deeds are frequently used for transfers among existing owners rather than a sale to outsiders.
Records obtained by Rappler show that the Greenwich estate’s original owners, who had held the property since the early 1990s, transferred it to an LLC – a business structure that shields its members from personal liability – through a quitclaim deed in 2013. Connecticut state records list the owners’ family trust as being behind the entity.
Rappler reached out to the original owners on June 2, but they declined to comment.
The property then remained under that corporate structure for nearly a decade before being sold to Romualdez-linked USP85 in September 2022. State records show that Lake LLC was dissolved the following month, in October 2022, after the sale was completed.
The Delaware connection
Lake Corp, which became the property’s owner in July 2025, is identified in the quitclaim deed as a Delaware corporation. Despite the similar name, it is a separate legal entity from the original owner’s LLC.
Records from the State of Delaware show that Lake Corp. was incorporated on September 12, 2024, with CT Corporation listed as its registered agent.
ENTITY DETAILS Corporate registry records showing the incorporation of Lake Corp. in the state of Delaware.
The arrangement — transfer via quitclaim deed to a Delaware-based company — mirrors that of a Massachusetts property linked to Romualdez. That estate was likewise transferred to a Delaware-registered company, with CT Corporation serving as the registered agent.
Notably, both the Connecticut and Massachusetts property transfers occurred in July 2025, before the massive flood control scandal broke out and while Romualdez was facing scrutiny over budget insertions that were later questioned before the Supreme Court.
But why Delaware?
The answer lies in the state’s distinctive corporate registration framework, a lawyer with extensive experience investigating international financial crimes and corruption told Rappler.
Delaware has long been a preferred jurisdiction for business incorporation because of its corporate laws and relatively streamlined registration process.
The lawyer also noted that while registered agents such as CT Corporation must be publicly identified, obtaining information about a company’s beneficial owners can be more difficult in Delaware than in some states with more robust disclosure requirements like Connecticut.
This results in a layer of separation between a corporation’s public records and the individuals who ultimately own or control it. Law enforcement authorities, however, can still obtain this information through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the US counterpart of the Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council.
Casiño’s role
LINKS. Details link back to Andrew Casiño’s relationship with Martin Romualdez.
How is Casiño linked to Romualdez? Their relationship extends from fraternity ties to corporate and property transactions.
Casiño has served on the Board of Directors of Benguet Corporation since June 2020, when he joined the Romualdez-owned firm as a director.
According to his corporate profile, he is a litigation lawyer with 25 years of experience practicing in New York State, handling a range of matters that include Philippine law issues and real estate transactions. The profile also describes him as a collaborator on US-related legal matters for Philippine-based law firms.
Yet people familiar with his legal practice characterized it as modest, saying it was “nothing remarkable.”
Ties between Casiño and Romualdez stretch back decades. Casiño earned his law degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1991, just a year ahead of the former House speaker. The two also joined the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity in 1985, according to a 2005 article published on the fraternity’s website.
Sources familiar with Romualdez’s inner circle described Casiño as one of the former House speaker’s trusted associates for US transactions.
In fact, a separate investigation by journalist Natashya Gutierrez also uncovered at least three transactions involving luxury New York properties owned by Romualdez, all facilitated by Casiño.
Pattern leads to Upsilon brods
Casiño is not the only Upsilon brother who has surfaced in transactions linked to Romualdez.
Previous Rappler investigations into the former House speaker’s property holdings have revealed a recurring pattern, where fraternity brothers appear in corporate structures and transactions involving assets associated with Romualdez’s wealth.
One example is lawyer Jose Raulito Paras, who joined Upsilon in 1990.
As discovered by Rappler, Paras is listed as the sole director and incorporator of Braavos Holdings, a company linked to another firm that acquired a mansion in Spain worth between 6.5 million and 6.9 million euros (roughly P444.5 million to P471.8 million).
Braavos Holdings shares a registered address with Paras’ law firm, Padernal & Paras Law. The firm’s other senior partner, Edgar Dennis Padernal, served on the boards of Romualdez-owned Benguet Corporation and Bright Kindle Resources & Investment, alongside Paras.
Paras likewise appears in records as the president and 99.9% shareholder of Golden Pheasant Holdings Corporation, the company that purchased the 3,196-square-meter property at 30 Tamarind Road in South Forbes Park, Makati, for P1.665 billion in 2023.
The Forbes Park property is at the center of the Office of the Ombudsman’s investigation in relation to possible money laundering as it shows signs of “corporate layering and nominee arrangements to conceal their true nature, source, and ownership.”
In a filing before the Sandiganbayan obtained by Rappler, the Ombudsman said that “there exists a marked disparity” between the value of the South Forbes Park property and Paras’ financial capacity.
“This disparity is clarified when viewed in light of Paras’ relationship with Romualdez,” the Ombudsman filing stated.
DENY. Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez appears in a video in April to deny all allegations linking him to the flood control scandal.
Running after Romualdez?
The Office of the Ombudsman has identified Romualdez, a first cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., as the “purported mastermind” of the alleged corruption scheme involving ghost flood control projects.
Yet nearly a year after the controversy erupted, the complaints against the former House speaker remain at the preliminary investigation stage, with no formal charges filed against him.
The most significant actions taken so far have been directed at his assets and travel.
In April, the Court of Appeals ordered the freezing of assets linked to Romualdez after finding probable cause to believe they were connected to alleged plunder, graft, and direct and indirect bribery.
Romualdez has also been placed under a preliminary hold departure order, which was subsequently affirmed by the Sandiganbayan.
Meanwhile, the US has canceled Romualdez’s diplomatic and tourist/business visas. – Rappler.com
