Fraudster’s Victims Are Seething After Trump Commuted His Sentence

Drain the swamp!

Then there is this:

Trump frees former GPB Capital CEO after Biden admin's Ponzi scheme sentence​

Then there is this from Newsweek

The New York Times, which first reported on the commutation, said it was not clear if Gentile had connections to Trump or his supporters.


Bottom Line: Trump does know of David Gentile—he commuted his sentence—but there’s no verified evidence of a personal or business relationship beyond that act of clemency.

Always in His Presence said:

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"At trial, the government was unable to tie any supposedly fraudulent representations to Mr. Gentile," said the White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to not being authorized to speak on the topic.​

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I'll take the unanimous vote of 12 good folk and true over some anonymous White House staffer.

essentialsaltes said:

I'll take the unanimous vote of 12 good folk and true over some anonymous White House staffer.

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I'll keep that in mind -

How about the unsubstantiated accusation that he was somehow associate with the President?

Always in His Presence said:

How about the unsubstantiated accusation that he was somehow associate with the President?

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I don't see any.

‘Betrayed’: Investors grapple with Trump commuting sentence of man who defrauded them​

Jeffrey Rosenberg is still trying to understand why President Trump would free the man who defrauded him out of a quarter of a million dollars.

Rosenberg, a retired wholesale produce distributor living in Nevada, has supported Trump since he entered politics, but the president’s decision in November to commute the sentence of former private equity executive David Gentile has left him angry and confused.

“I just feel I’ve been betrayed,” Rosenberg, 68, said. “I don’t know why he would do this, unless there was some sort of gain somewhere, or some favor being called in. I am very disappointed. I kind of put him above this kind of thing.”

“I think it is disgusting,” said CarolAnn Tutera, 70, who invested more than $400,000 with Gentile’s company, GPB Capital. Gentile, she added, “basically pulled a Bernie Madoff and swindled people out of their money, and then he gets to go home to his wife and kids.”

Gentile and his business partner, Jeffry Schneider, were convicted of securities and wire fraud in August 2024 for carrying out what federal prosecutors described as a $1.6-billion Ponzi scheme to defraud more than 10,000 investors. After an eight-week trial, it took a jury five hours to return a guilty verdict.

Then, on Nov. 26 — just 12 days after Gentile reported to prison — Trump commuted his sentence with “no further fines, restitution, probation, or other conditions,” according to a grant of clemency signed by Trump. Under those terms, Gentile may not have to pay $15 million that federal prosecutors are seeking in forfeiture.

Adam Gana, a securities attorney whose firm has represented more than 250 GPB investors, called the White House’s explanation “a word salad of nonsense,” and questioned why Trump granted Gentile a commutation, which lessens a sentence, rather than a pardon, which forgives the offense itself.

“If the government wasn’t able to prove their case, [Note that they did prove it to a jury beyond reasonable doubt] why not pardon David Gentile? And why is his partner still in prison?” Gana said. “It’s left us with more questions than answers.”

Tutera, who runs a hormone replacement therapy office in Arizona, invested more than $400,000 with GPB at the recommendation of a financial advisor. She hoped the returns would help support her retirement after her husband had died.

“I was on grief brain at the time and just feel I was taken advantage of and really sold a bill of goods,” said Tutera, 70. Now, she says: “I have to keep working to make up for what I was owed.” She has been able to recover only about $40,000.

Tutera said her sister, Julie Ullman, and their 97-year-old mother also fell victim to the scheme. Their mother lost more than $100,000 and now finds herself spending down savings she had planned to leave to her children and not trusting people, she said.

[Another victim] Mei fears Trump’s decision to commute Gentile’s sentence will allow these schemes to continue.

“Donald Trump is promoting more white-collar financial criminals, for sure,” Mei said. “How unfair.”

Rosenberg, the retiree from Nevada, said he still supports the president but can’t help but think Trump’s decision makes him “look like another of the swamp” that Trump says he wants to drain.

essentialsaltes said:

‘Betrayed’: Investors grapple with Trump commuting sentence of man who defrauded them​

Jeffrey Rosenberg is still trying to understand why President Trump would free the man who defrauded him out of a quarter of a million dollars.

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Because a quarter of a million dollars is chump change. That's not going to get anyone into Mar a Largo, maybe a fundraiser dinner without good seats or autograph.