New York-based asset management firm GPB Capital Holdings allegedly defrauded more than 17,000 retail investors in a Ponzi-like scheme, then attempted to impede an employee from blowing the whistle on the illegal practices, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint filed Thursday.
The SEC said GPB Capital; its CEO David Gentile; and Jeffry Schneider, the owner of GPB Capital’s placement agent Ascendant Capital and affiliated firm Ascendant Alternative Strategies, raised over $1.7 billion from investors with promises their investments would generate an 8 percent annualized distribution. But GPB Capital lied to investors that the distributions came from profits generated from their investments, instead using investor funds to pay the distribution, according to the SEC.
