Donald Trump is facing criticism after commuting the prison sentence of David Gentile, a former investment manager convicted of defrauding investors of $1.6 billion.

Gentile, aged 59, was sentenced to seven years in prison following his conviction in August 2024. He was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme that deceived over 10,000 investors by providing false information about the performance of three private equity funds.

Alongside his partner, Jeffry Schneider, Gentile was accused of misleading more than 17,000 retail investors with false promises of an eight percent return on their investments.

Federal prosecutors revealed that the Manhattan-based firm, GPB Capital, assured investors that their returns would be generated from the firm’s revenue streams, which included car dealerships. However, a substantial portion of the funds used to pay returns was actually sourced from new investors.

Gentile, who is a member of the Church of Scientology, began serving his prison sentence on November 14. His sentence was commuted by Trump just a few days later, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the clemency decision.

He was set free on Wednesday, spending only 12 total days in jail. 

Adam Gana, a lawyer representing those defrauded by GPB in arbitration, was irate and said Gentile’s case should be beyond politics.  

‘The stories that we’ve heard are just heartbreaking, and it’s just unbelievable that somebody like that would receive a commutation. This is not a case that should be political. This guy belongs in prison,’ he told The New York Times.

Donald Trump has faced backlash for commuting the prison sentence of former investment manager David Gentile, who was convicted of defrauding investors to the tune of $1.6billion

Gentile (pictured center in 2014), 59, had been sentenced to seven years in prison after an August 2024 conviction for his role in a scheme to defraud more than 10,000 investors by misrepresenting the performance of three private equity funds

There were over 1,000 victim statements submitted to the court at Gentile’s trial. 

‘I lost my whole life savings. I am living from check to check,’ wrote one.

Gentile and Schneider ‘raised approximately $1.6 billion from individual investors based on false promises of generating investment returns from the profits of portfolio companies,’ said the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella Jr. 

‘All while using investor capital to pay distributions and create a false appearance of success.’ 

However, Gentile had a key Trump ally behind him in Alice Marie Johnson, a woman granted a pardon by the president during his first term who has since become known as the president’s ‘pardon czar.’

‘I am also deeply grateful to see David Gentile heading home to his young children,’ she wrote in a message celebrating many of the president’s pardons and commutations around Thanksgiving. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment.  

Gentile had been the CEO and co-founder of GPB Capital, which had raised $1.6 billion in capital to acquire companies in the auto, retail, health care and housing sectors.

Gentile, a Scientologist, reported to prison on November 14, just days before Trump commuted his sentence, according to a White House official who requested anonymity to provide details of the clemency action

Gentile had a key Trump ally behind him in Alice Marie Johnson, a woman granted a pardon by the president during his first term who has since become known as the president’s ‘pardon czar’

But the White House official said GPB Capital had disclosed to investors in 2015 that their capital might go to pay dividends to other investors. 

The official said this undercut claims that the company had engaged in a ‘Ponzi’ scheme in which new investments are used to reimburse previous investors.

The government has agreed to no restitution in the criminal case, though various civil cases are handling repayments and damages to investors.

The commutation, as opposed to a pardon, means that its possible the penalties associated with his conviction will remain. 

Schneider, who faces six years in prison, has received no pardon or commutation from the president.