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

In the latest development in the GPB Capital fraud case, several audit firms have agreed to pay a combined $46 million to settle claims related to their alleged role in the $1.8 billion scheme that affected approximately 15,000 investors.

The proposed settlement, now seeking preliminary approval, resolves litigation brought by plaintiffs 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 audit firms named in the settlement include CohnReznick LLP, Crowe LLP, Margolin Winer & Evens LLP, RSM US LLP, and WithumSmith+Brown PC. The audit firms agreed to the settlement, but denied any wrongdoing or that they should have been aware of GPB’s malfeasance.

Each of the settling audit firms will contribute to the $46 million, which will be placed in a non-reversionary fund to benefit the approximately 15,000 members of the settlement class, which includes those investors who purchased limited partnership units in GPB funds between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2018. “Given the risks to recovery, and the significant delays and costs associated with continued litigation through trial, this settlement reflects an excellent outcome,” the plaintiffs stated via the motion.

As part of the agreement, class counsel may seek up to 30% of the settlement fund, approximately $13.8 million, in attorneys’ fees, plus additional litigation costs. Each of the 20 proposed class representatives may request up to $10,000 in service awards.

The settlement must still be approved by the court. If granted, notices will be sent directly to class members and published online as part of a broader notification plan.

The audit firms’ settlement is just the latest development in what has been years of legal action against GPB Capital. Between 2013 and 2018, GPB marketed several of its funds as offering stable monthly distributions covered by operating profits. In reality, according to regulators and court documents, distributions were often funded using new investor capital, a hallmark of a Ponzi-like scheme. In 2019, the firm’s Manhattan office was raided by the FBI after it failed to make timely required filings.

In February 2021, the Justice Department, alongside the Securities and Exchange Commission, charged the company’s founder, David Gentile; its sales chief, Jeff Schneider; and another senior executive, Jeffrey Lash, with multiple fraud charges. In the same year, the North American Securities Administrators Association reported that seven state securities agencies had filed regulatory actions against GPB Capital Holdings and others for their alleged involvement.

In March 2025, a federal court upheld the convictions against Gentile and Schneider, and, earlier this month, the two were sentenced to seven years and six years in prison, respectively. Also earlier this year, a federal judge in Brooklyn approved the release of $400 million to some of the beleaguered GPB Capital Holdings investors.

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