White House defends releasing jailed executive who defrauded thousands out of $1.6bn

The White House has defended Donald Trump’s commutation of a prison sentence for former private equity executive David Gentile, who conned thousands out of $1.6 billion in a fraud scheme. Gentile, 59, was granted clemency and released on Wednesday (26 November) after serving less than two weeks of a seven-year prison sentence. Asked by a reporter in the White House about the commutation on Monday (2 December), Karoline Leavitt said the Biden government was “unable to tie any supposedly fraudulent representations to Mr Gentile”. She called the case another example of the “weaponization of justice from the previous administration”. Gentile and his co-defendant, Jeffry Schneider, were convicted in August 2024 on conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and securities fraud. His conviction will not be erased.