More Than 10,000 Investors Were Misled. Trump Freed the Man Convicted in Their Fraud
A man convicted in a $1.6B fraud involving 10,000+ investors barely entered prison before Trump freed him. Then prosecutors reportedly probing his clemency had their inquiry shut down.
Scandal: A series examining corruption in leadership and its downstream consequences.
A man convicted in a $1.6 billion fraud involving more than 10,000 investors barely entered prison before Trump freed him. Prosecutors then reportedly asked whether money or access helped make it happen, before that inquiry was reportedly shut down.
David Gentile had barely begun paying for the crime. In May 2025, after an eight-week federal trial, the founder and former chief executive of GPB Capital was sentenced in Brooklyn to seven years in prison for his role in a private-equity fraud that, according to the Justice Department, misled more than 10,000 investors and involved roughly $1.6 billion. The Associated Press reported that he entered prison on November 14. The Guardian, citing federal prison records, reported that he was released on November 26. Less than two weeks after Gentile arrived, President Donald Trump had commuted his sentence.
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