Investors ask: Why did Trump free a man convicted of defrauding them?

WASHINGTON— Jeffrey Rosenberg is still trying to understand why President Trump released the man who defrauded him 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 left him angry and confused.

“I feel betrayed,” Rosenberg, 68, said. “I don’t know why he’s doing this unless there’s some gain or good being done somewhere. I’m very disappointed. I put him above that kind of thing.”

Trump’s decision Release Gentile from prison Less than two weeks into his seven-year sentence, he faced scrutiny from securities lawyers and a U.S. senator; All of which is to say that the White House’s explanation for the amnesty action doesn’t make sense. He also draws the ire of his victims.

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

Gentile and his business partner, Jeffry Schneider, were convicted in August 2024 of securities and wire fraud 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, the jury took five hours to return a guilty verdict.

More than 1,000 people confirmed their losses after investing with GPB, according to federal prosecutors, who described the victims as “hard-working, ordinary people.”

When Gentile and Schneider were convicted in May, Joseph Nocella Jr., a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. and Christopher Raia, a senior Justice Department official, said their sentences were “deserved” and a warning to would-be fraudsters.

“May today’s sentence deter anyone who seeks to greedily profit from customers through deceptive practices,” Raia said in a statement.

Then, on November 26 — just 12 days after Gentile was sentenced to prison — Trump commuted his sentence “without further fines, restitution, probation, or other conditions.” An amnesty agreement signed by Trump. Under those terms, Gentile may not have to pay the $15 million in fines that federal prosecutors are seeking.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters this month that prosecutors had failed to link Gentile to “allegedly fraudulent” representations and that there was a “weapon of justice” spearheaded by the Biden administration — even though the sentences and convictions were praised by Trump’s own appointees.

The White House declined to say who advised Trump on the decision or whether Trump considered granting pardon to Schneider, Gentile’s co-defendant. Lawyers for Gentile and Schneider did not respond to a request seeking comment.

Securities attorney Adam Ghana, whose firm represents more than 250 GPB investors, called the White House’s statement “a word salad of nonsense” and questioned why Trump gave Gentile a commutation that commuted the sentence rather than a pardon that absolves him of the crime.

“If the government couldn’t prove its case, why doesn’t it pardon David Gentile? And why is his partner still in prison?” Ghana said. “He left us with more questions than answers.”

‘It hurts so much’

According to Rosenberg, Tutera and two other investors interviewed by The Times, the president’s decision removed the sense of closure they felt after Gentile and Schneider were convicted.

Rosenberg tried not to dwell on the $250,000 he lost in 2016 after a broker “painted a pretty picture” of steady returns and long-term profits. The investments were supposed to bring him income during retirement.

“A quarter of a million dollars hurts a lot,” Rosenberg said. “It’s changed a lot of the things I do. The little trips I want to take with my grandchildren, they’re not quite as nice as they were planned.”

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

“I was in pain at the time and felt like I was being taken advantage of and that I was really selling a commodity,” Tutera, 70, said. He was 70 years old. Now he says: “I have to keep working to make up for what’s owed to me.” He was only able to raise $40,000.

Tutera said his sister Julie Ullman and her 97-year-old mother were also victims of this scheme. Their mother lost more than $100,000 and now finds herself spending savings she planned to leave to her children and distrusting people, he said.

“This is really sad,” Tutera said. “People unfortunately turned into thieves, liars and cheats and I don’t know what happened to the world but we lost our way of being kind.”

Ullman, 58, who runs a medical practice in Arizona, said the financial loss changed his life.

“I’m going to have to work longer than I thought because this was my retirement fund,” Ullman said.

Mei, a 71-year-old licensed acupuncturist who asked not to use her full name out of embarrassment, said a broker introduced her to GPB mutual funds at a lunch meeting aimed at divorced women. He eventually invested $500,000 and lost it all. He said he was only able to get back about $214,000 of his money through lawsuits.

Mei had planned to retire in New York to be close to her children. But he said the loss of income forced him to live six months out of the year in China, where the cost of living is much lower.

Mei fears Trump’s decision to commute Gentile’s sentence will allow these plans to proceed.

“Donald Trump is definitely encouraging more white-collar financial criminals,” Mei said. “How unfair.”

Bob Van De Veire, a securities attorney who has represented more than 100 GPB investors, said he mostly handles negligence cases against brokers touting GPB investments.

“Given all the red flags available, they should never have sold these investments,” Van De Veire said.

Securities lawyer Ghana stated that he would continue to fight for the victims in civil court and that clemency was only for criminal convictions.

That relief comes from Sen. Sen., who sent a letter to the White House last week asking a few questions. It caught the attention of Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.): Why, for example, did Gentile get clemency while Schneider did not? So, what were the trial errors cited as the reason for the change? He said the victims deserve answers.

“They will not forget that when they needed their government to stand with them against the man who stole their future, their President chose to side with the criminal,” Gallego wrote.

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

“I think Trump has done a lot of good things, but this is a bad thing.”

Still, Rosenberg is hopeful Trump can do the right thing for the victims, even if it’s just by admitting he made a mistake.

“I’d like to think that somewhere along the line he was given some bad information,” he said. “If that’s the case…at least come forward and say, ‘I’m sorry.’”