When CarolAnn Tutera learned that she and her relatives were scammed out of half a million dollars, she figured the money was gone for good.
But she had hope that the legal system offered a measure of justice: The man behind the company she invested in was convicted of fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Then, late last year, she learned that President Donald Trump set him free.
“I think not only is it a betrayal, it’s an injustice to the system,” she told MS NOW. “How did you go from ‘you’re supposed to be in prison,’ to two weeks later, a swish of a pen, ‘you’re scot free’?”
A jury found David Gentile and his business partner guilty in 2024 of what prosecutors said was a billion-dollar fraud that victimized as many as 17,000 investors.
Ironically, Trump Justice Department officials celebrated when Gentile was sentenced in May 2025. He was just 12 days into his prison…
This category refers to crimes committed by employees or insiders against their own organizations. It is often the most damaging because the perpetrator has authorized access to systems.
- Asset Misappropriation: The most common form, involving the theft of company resources. This ranges from simple “skimming” (taking cash before it’s recorded) to complex schemes involving the theft of inventory or intellectual property.
- Payroll Fraud: Employees may create “ghost employees” on the system, falsify their own timesheets to claim unworked overtime, or divert salary payments to their own accounts.
- Financial Statement Fraud: Management deliberately misrepresents the company’s financial health by inflating revenue or hiding liabilities to attract investors or meet performance bonuses.