Journalist Natashya Gutierrez opened the latest episode of her series On Assignment With Me with documents she obtained from the Office of the City Register of New York showing that a Manhattan luxury unit was transferred to the estate of Benjamin Romualdez in 2024 without any recorded payment.
The paperwork identifies Martin Romualdez, acting as administrator of his father’s estate, as the recipient of Unit 28A at 465 Park Avenue, a property inside the upscale Ritz Tower.
Gutierrez said the filing listed the deal as a no consideration transfer, a mechanism that real estate lawyers told her is used for gifts or donations. She noted that the affidavit signed by Romualdez states the transfer was made for specific grounds that should have been written in the document yet the section was left blank.
She said the absence of an explanation is unusual because the previous owner appears unrelated to the Romualdez family, raising questions about why a stranger would donate a high value Manhattan property to the estate and why no money was recorded in the transaction.
The Ritz Tower is marketed as one of Manhattan’s most luxurious cooperative buildings, with hotel style amenities including a full time chef, concierge, twenty four hour doorman, housekeeping, valet and porter service, fitness facilities and meeting rooms. Its location on Park Avenue and Fifty Seventh Street places it near Central Park and high end retail.
Because the unit was not publicly sold, Gutierrez said its exact size is unknown, but online estimates place similar apartments in the building between $150,000 and more than $4 million (₱8,867,250 – ₱236,460,000). Redfin pegs the value of Unit 28A at around $4.7 million (₱277,840,500).
Gutierrez said lawyers she consulted explained that even if the property is under the estate, Romualdez would still have to declare it in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth because he is a beneficiary. She said she has repeatedly requested a copy of his SALN and has asked him about releasing it in person, but he has not responded. She said Romualdez told her he would release it only if the Independent Commission on Infrastructure asked for it.
Gutierrez also found that the lawyer who facilitated the New York transfer was Andrew Casino, the same lawyer who handled the transfer of Romualdez’s $2.24 million (₱132,417,600) Massachusetts property to a corporation for $1 (₱59) in 2025.
Casino is a fraternity brother of Romualdez and sits on the board of one of his mining companies. Property records show three additional units at the Ritz Tower were transferred to Casino in 2025, two in March and one in June. Gutierrez said she asked Casino and Romualdez whether these units also belong to the Romualdez estate or family, but she received no clarification.
She said she emailed questions to Romualdez, Casino and the previous property owner on November twenty and followed up on November twenty one, November twenty five and November twenty six through email, WhatsApp, Viber and a phone call, leaving a voicemail for Casino. She also sent repeated messages to Romualdez through Viber and different office addresses. None of the parties responded.
Gutierrez read the questions she sent in her attempts to verify the details. She asked them to confirm that the previous owner is unrelated to the family, to explain why the property was transferred through a no consideration mechanism, to clarify whether three additional units under Casino’s name are actually held for the Romualdez family, and to provide a copy of Romualdez’s latest SALN. She said she gave them more than a week to respond, extended the deadline and waited again before publishing the episode.
Gutierrez closed the report by saying that the unanswered questions remain central to the investigation. Why was a luxury New York apartment donated to the Romualdez estate. Why was the transfer recorded with no payment and no declared grounds. Why does the family’s longtime lawyer appear with three more units in the same building. She said she hopes the release of the episode will prompt a response from Romualdez or his lawyer.
