Donald Trump granted clemency to private equity executive David Gentile, who began serving a seven-year prison sentence over what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion fraud scheme, The New York Times reports.
Gentile, 59, the founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of GPB Capital, was convicted in May and sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in defrauding thousands of individual investors.
He reported to jail on 14 November. Gentile was released on Wednesday, Nov. 26, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
“The sentences handed down today are appropriate and should serve as a warning to potential fraudsters that trying to get rich by taking advantage of investors only gets you a one-way ticket to prison,” Joseph Nocella Jr., the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement on the sentencing in May.
According to a complaint by regulators, some of the investor funds were used “to cover the cost of the private jet, which included $90,000 a year for flight attendants, all-terrain vehicle rentals and more than $29,000 in expenses, which one auditor said included ‘David’s 50th birthday.'” It also claims that GPB charged a 2015 Ferrari FF used by Mr. Gentiles spent $355,000.”
In 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the private equity firm, Gentile, and two other executives, seeking compensation for affected investors.
“Investors invested more than $1.8 billion in GPB funds, but they did not receive a single cent of profit,” James said in a statement on the lawsuit. “GPB and its operators fleeced New Yorkers and investors across the country by subsidizing their 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 ties to Mr. Trump or 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, details of the change had not yet been posted on the Justice Department’s website.
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