Trial of Fil-Am 'golden boy' involved in $100-M swindling case moved to March

The trial of a Filipino-American former car dealer Eminiano “Jun” Reodica — once touted as a golden boy in the California Fil-Am community until allegations that he swindled around $100 million — has been moved to March this year. The news site Asian Journal reported on January 29 that the trial of 68-year-old Reodica was originally set for that day, but was moved so that federal prosecutors and Reodica’s defense attorneys can build their cases. The story noted that Reodica, the former president of the Grand Wilshire Group and Grand Chevrolet of Glendora in California, is facing 51 counts of fraud, including scheming to defraud banks and savings and loans; creating false credit statements; and aiding and abetting. Reodica was nabbed by US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents in November last year. The Asian Journal also reported that Reodica’s co-conspirator and Grand Chevrolet’s inventory manager  Danilo De Castro is still being searched for by the FBI after he fled to the Philippines in 1988 with Reodica. Golden boy Reodica was touted as a golden boy because of his success story, and used to be looked up to by the Fil-Am community until US investigators found his company defrauded banks of at least $70 million and swindled individual investors of $43 million. From being a busboy, he worked his way up the ladder to become the vice president of a car dealership in Encino. He then bought his own dealership in 1978 after arriving from the US in the mid-1970s, and employed an immigrant workforce that helped bolster employment in their area. Reodica’s dealership, Grand Chevrolet, then became the third in national sales volume with over 600 employees in the mid 1980's. - Gian C. Geronimo, VVP, GMA News