Audit Firms Agree to $46 Million Settlement in GPB Capital Fraud Case

Posted on June 18th, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Audit Firms Agree to $46 Million Settlement in GPB Capital Fraud Case

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

In a significant development in the GPB Capital fraud litigation, several audit firms have agreed to pay a combined $46 million to settle claims tied to their alleged involvement in the $1.8 billion scheme that impacted roughly 15,000 investors, as reported by DI Wire.

The proposed settlement, which now awaits preliminary court approval, addresses claims brought in two consolidated class actions: Kinnie Ma Individual Retirement Account, et al. v. Ascendant Capital LLC, et al. in Texas, and DeLuca, et al. v. GPB Holdings, LP, et al. in New York. The firms participating in the agreement include CohnReznick LLP, Crowe LLP, Margolin Winer & Evens LLP, RSM US LLP, and WithumSmith+Brown PC. According to DI Wire, while agreeing to the financial terms, the audit firms denied any wrongdoing or liability for GPB’s misconduct.

The $46 million will be placed into a non-reversionary fund for the benefit of settlement class members—investors who purchased limited partnership units in GPB funds between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2018.

This agreement marks another chapter in the protracted legal fallout from GPB Capital’s collapse, as reported by DI Wire. Between 2013 and 2018, GPB promoted its funds as vehicles providing steady monthly distributions funded by operational profits. However, regulators and court filings later revealed that those payments often came from new investor capital. In 2019, the FBI raided GPB’s Manhattan office after the firm missed regulatory filing deadlines. By 2021, the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission had charged company founder David Gentile, sales chief Jeff Schneider, and executive Jeffrey Lash with multiple fraud-related offenses.

In March 2025, a federal court upheld the convictions of Gentile and Schneider. Both received prison sentences earlier this month. According to DI Wire, earlier this year, a federal judge in Brooklyn also authorized the release of $400 million to certain defrauded GPB investors.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

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