GPB execs guilty on all fraud counts

investmentnews.com:

David Gentile, founder and CEO of GPB Capital Holdings, and Jeffry Schneider, broker-deal chief, were founder guilty on all fraud counts they faced on Thursday morning in a seven-week trial in federal court in downtown Brooklyn.

The 12-person jury found Gentile guilty of all five counts he faced; conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, and two counts of wire fraud.

Schneider was found guilty of three counts of fraud he faced; guilty to commit securities fraud, guilty to commit wire fraud, and securities fraud.

During the trial the federal court room was often packed with family friends and onlookers but today barely a dozen people turned up for the verdict. Onlookers said that after the first count of guilty was read, a woman sobbed, with her moans growing louder after each count.

Onlookers added that attorneys for Gentile and Schneider plan to appeal the verdict. Sentencing is set for October 24.

More to come.

Founded in 2013, GPB Capital saw incredible growth selling its high risk private placements through dozens of independent broker-dealers and five years later had raised $1.8 billion from wealthy clients looking for yield in a decade ago when interest rates were next to zero.

The firm had more than a half-dozen funds and targeted a steady 8% annual return to investors. Led by Gentile and broker-dealer chief Schneider, GPB first started ringing alarm bells six years ago, when it came to light that the company and its largest funds had failed to make timely required filings, including audited financial statements, with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In February 2019, the FBI raided GPB offices in Manhattan. Two year later, the Justice Department, along with