GPB Capital Holdings Criminal Defendants Gentile, Schneider, and Lash Seek Wiretap Evidence Obtained by the FBI

By Jeffrey Augustine on September 18, 2022 • ( Leave a comment )

GPB Capital Holdings CEO David Gentile had no clue.

He had no clue his conversations and phone calls were being secretly recorded by people who worked for him. None of these people were willing to go to prison for David Gentile and so they went to the FBI for help. They did the right thing. Some of them wore wires into meetings lead by David Gentile and his accomplice Jeffry Schneider. There are 200 recordings according to the court record.

Jeff Lash, the third GPB exec criminally charged along with Gentile and Schneider had at least eight of his phone calls secretly recorded by a cooperating witness who was working with the Feds.

While all this was going on David Gentile was being a good Scientologist. He had a Scientology Org Board in his offices. He considered himself an upstanding member of “the most ethical group on the planet” even as he was running a con on his 17,000 investors.

Many new legal documents concerning GPB Capital Holdings criminal defendants David Gentile, Jeffry Schneider, and GPB Capital Holdings have been posted in the Eastern District of New York court docket in the past 10 weeks. Here are some of the highlights we learned during our review of the documents:

1. 1. Two cooperating witnesses, and there may be more, wore hidden recording devices into meetings with David Gentile, Jeffry Schneider and other GPB Capital executives.
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  2. David Rosenberg secretly recorded phone calls between himself and criminal defendant Jeff Lash. David Rosenberg owned Prime Motor Group and sold it to GPB Capital in 2017. Rosenberg stayed on as CEO of Prime when, in the course of his duties, he discovered alleged financial wrongdoings within GPB Capital. He filed for whistleblower status with the Government. He informed GPB Capital management of his having done so and was fired in retaliation. Rosenberg later sued GPB Capital and settled in 2021.
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  3. Scott Silverman, former legal counsel for an entity owned by GPB Capital Automotive Portfolio, wore a wire into meetings with David Gentile, Jeffry Schneider, and other executives at GPB Capital Holdings. Silverman cooperated with the DoJ, FBI, and the SEC.
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  4. There are 200 of these recordings according to Jeffry Schneider’s attorney Glenn Colton.
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  5. The US Government seized 13 million documents during its execution of five search warrants. Most of these documents have not been reviewed according to Schneider’s attorney Colton.
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  6. Former GPB Capital exec Patrick Dibre will play a large role in the case against the GPB Capital Holdings criminal defendants. Jeffry Schneider’s attorney Glenn Colton said in a hearing:
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    Factually, Mr. Dibre, who is going to be a big figure in this case potentially, filed a counterclaim against Mr. Gentile and GPB making all sorts of allegations against Mr. Schneider and Mr. Gentile in March of 2018, almost a whole year before the search warrants to GPB were issued here.”
    
    We said this about Patrick Dibre in our early reporting where we emphasized that Patrick Dibre was the first person to publicly call GPB Capital Holdings a Ponzi scheme. He said this after he was sued by David Gentile and accused of theft of funds and other acts. Dibre counterclaimed and called PB Capital Holdings a Ponzi scheme. David Gentile unwisely chose to pick a fight with Patrick Dibre when he could have settled. Now Dibre will become a major witness in the criminal trial of David Gentile and his co-defendants.
  7. David Gentile’s criminal defense lawyer Matthew Menchel of Kobre & Kim asked the court to issue a subpoena ordering the US Government to turn over the recordings between Scott Silverman, David Gentile, and others. An excerpt of the filing; scroll down to see the full filing. The cover letter form Matthew Menchel to Judge Gujarati:
    
    The particular recordings criminal defendant David Gentile is seeking from the US Government.

Former Prime Auto CEO David Rosenberg became an SEC whistleblower after he learned of alleged criminal activity inside of GPB Capital. Rosenberg, as an informant for the SEC, recorded eight phone calls of himself talking to criminal defendant Jeff Lash. Robert C. Gottlieb, Lash’s criminal defense attorney’s is seeking copies of these recordings. From the record: