Securities Lawyers Blog
Our firm represents multiple clients who have collectively lost millions in GPB Capital Holdings (GPB Capital) related investments. Recently, class action lawsuits have been filed against GPB Capital with the goal of recovering investor funds. However, it is our law firm’s belief that remedies against the sales agents who peddled GPB Capital offerings provide investors with potentially quicker and better recovery options. Further, investors in many cases do not lose out from the ability to still collect from a class action resolution if such an event occurs.
Our firm has analyzed the GPB Capital offerings and believe that brokerage firms did not review these offerings in any significant detail. Our firm’s investigation has found that brokerage firms failed to conduct due diligence and investigate multiple aspects of GPB Capital’s business including its senior management, fantastical business claims, and intra-fund lending practices. For instance, with respect to GPB Capital’s senior management the company was founded by David Gentile (Gentile). Had brokerage firms investigated GPB Capital’s senior manager it would have found that prior to founding GPB Capital, Gentile’s experience was as a CPA and company advisor with the accounting practice his family ran at Gentile Pismeny & Brengel, LLP (GP&B) in New York. Nonetheless, GPB’s PPMs claimed expertise in these areas. GPB Holdings II, LP, PPM, pg. 9 (Apr. 13, 2015) (“GPB’s senior management have a great deal of experience investing in the Automotive Retail, Managed IT Services and Life Sciences sectors.”).
Any investigation would have revealed that GPB Capital is merely the private equity investment arm of a plain vanilla accounting practice. There is no evidence that GPB Capital’s senior management had the knowledge, industry experience, or investment experience to run the operations of a $1.8 billion dollar mult-asset strategy private equity fund and should not have been entrusted with investor funds. Our investigation has also identified a number of business claims that any review would have revealed could not have possibly be substantiated.
Over the past year controversy has embroiled GPB Capital in what seems to be a never ending saga of investigation and accounting delays. GPB Capital is subject to multiple regulatory investigations and even an FBI referral which has left investors clueless to the fate of their investments.
As a background, financial advisers sold $1.5 billion of these high-risk private placements offered by GPB Capital Holdings. However, GPB Capital told investors in 2018 that virtually none of the firm’s financial reports could be trusted and that in fact the offering had no accurate financial information. Recently, GPB Capital released its own internal analysis and valuation of its funds without providing any evidence to support its findings. As reported by InvestmentNews, the two largest funds offered GPB Holdings II and GPB Automotive Portfolio have declines of 25.4% and 39%. However, some of the other funds, like Armada Waste, faired much worse declining to only 32% of their original value. Again these valuations are provided by GPB Capital and only after a year of accounting mishaps.
GPB Capital Holding’s funds include:
GPB Cold Storage
GPB Automotive Fund
GPB Automotive Income
GPB Holdings II and III
GPB Waste Management
GPB NY Development
Brokers have a responsibility treat investors fairly which includes obligations such as making only suitable investments for the client after conducting due diligence. Due diligence includes an investigation into the investment’s properties including its benefits, risks, tax consequences, issuer, history, and other relevant factors. Appropriate due diligence would identify that an alternative investment’s high costs, illiquidity, and conflicts of interests that would make the investment not suitable for investors.
Investors who have suffered losses are encouraged to contact us at (800) 810-4262 for consultation. At Gana Weinstein LLP, our attorneys are experienced representing investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts. Claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.