Trump Grants Clemency to Executive Convicted in $1.6 Billion Fraud

[Thiệu Ngô]

David Gentile had just begun to serve a seven-year sentence for role in $1.6bn scheme that defrauded thousands

By Michael Sainato

Donald Trump granted clemency to private equity executive David Gentile, who had just begun a seven-year prison sentence for what prosecutors described as a $1.6bn fraud scheme, reported the New York Times.

The founder and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GPB Capital, 59 year old Gentile was convicted and sentenced in May to seven years in prison for his role in defrauding thousands of individual investors.

He reported to prison on 14 November. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Gentile was released on Wednesday, 26 November.

“The sentences imposed today are well deserved and should serve as a warning to would-be fraudsters that seeking to get rich by taking advantage of investors gets you only a one-way ticket to jail,” said Joseph Nocella Jr, United States attorney for the eastern district of New York, in a statement on the sentencing in May.

According to a complaint from regulators, some investor funds were used to “cover the costs of private jets, including a $90,000-a-year flight attendant, all-terrain vehicle rentals and more than $29,000 in expenses that an auditor said included ‘David’s 50th Bday,’ according to the state’s complaint. It also claims GPB spent $355,000 on a 2015 Ferrari FF used by Mr. Gentile.”

In 2021, New York attorney general Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the private equity firm, Gentile, and two other executives, in seeking restitution for impacted investors.

“Investors put in more than $1.8 billion into GPB funds but were left without a single cent of profit,” James said in a statement on the lawsuit. “GPB and its operators fleeced New Yorkers and investors around the country while subsidizing their own lavish lifestyles, which is why we are filing this lawsuit and fighting to hold these bad actors accountable.”

The New York Times reported “it was not immediately clear whether Mr Gentile had connections to Mr Trump or to the president’s supporters. Lawyers for Mr Gentile and Mr Schneider declined to comment. Mr Gentile did not respond to a request for comment.”

As of Sunday, the details of the commutation has yet to be posted on the Department of Justice website.