Twelve days. That’s how long David Gentile spent in federal prison for a $1.8 billion fraud that wiped out the retirement savings of 17,000 people.
On Thanksgiving 2025, President Trump signed a one-page clemency grant, commuting Gentile’s seven-year sentence to time served and erasing a $15 million restitution order in the process.
In this episode, we talk to one of those 17,000 victims, CarolAnn Tutera, a 70-year-old still working because she can’t afford not to. We also talk to securities fraud attorney Adam Gana and Ponzi Playbook co-host Neal McTighe about how the scheme worked, what the pardon means, and what it says about the current climate for white collar crime.
CarolAnn Tutera
GPB Capital investor and CEO of Tutera Medical
Adam Gana
Securities fraud attorney, Gana LLP
Neal McTighe
Co-host, Ponzi Playbook podcast
The Conviction and Sentencing
DOJ Press Release
The Blueprint of the Fraud
SEC Civil Complaint
The White House Response
Forbes Breaking News — search: “Karoline Leavitt Asked About Trump’s Commutation Of Private Equity CEO’s Fraud Sentence”
00:00 CarolAnn’s Story
04:06 David Gentile’s Promise
04:38 I Beg Your Pardon
07:02 How a Ponzi Scheme Works
14:21 The Smoking Gun Emails
15:47 CarolAnn’s $400K
16:42 The Takedown
18:38 The Verdict
19:22 The Pardon
20:06 The White House Response
23:12 Restitution Wiped Out
29:51 The Pay-to-Play Pattern
33:41 The Perfect Storm
GuestsResourcesChapters36:44 Ponzi Playbook Returns
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