A $49 million default judgment after a precious metals dealer used forged documents to hide missing funds
Regal Assets LLC solicited customers to move retirement savings into self-directed IRAs and buy precious metals, then misappropriated more than $21 million from over 120 of them, using forged documents to cover up the missing money, according to the CFTC and California's financial regulator. When the company, its CEO Tyler G. Gallagher and its former president Leah Donoso did not defend the case, a federal judge entered default judgments in October 2024 ordering them to pay a combined $49.2 million and permanently barring them from the industry.
- Year
- 2024
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sanctioned
- Reported loss
- $21.0 million
- Victims
- 120
- Schemes
- Precious metals and gold IRA scams
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-26
The facts, as recorded
- The CFTC and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) jointly filed the underlying complaint on September 27, 2023, charging Regal Assets LLC, CEO Tyler G. Gallagher and former President Leah Donoso with misappropriating customer funds meant to purchase precious metals.
- Customers were solicited to transfer funds, primarily from tax-deferred retirement accounts, into self-directed IRAs to buy precious metals from Regal Assets; the complaint alleges the defendants instead misappropriated more than $21 million from more than 120 customers.
- The complaint alleges the defendants made knowing or reckless fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions to customers, including using forged documents to conceal the missing funds and keep the scheme running.
- Because the defendants did not respond to the litigation, U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin entered orders of default judgment on October 15, 2024, requiring Regal Assets, Gallagher and Donoso to pay, jointly and severally, over $21.9 million in restitution and more than $27.3 million in civil monetary penalties, about $49.2 million combined.
- The orders permanently enjoin the defendants from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and California law and permanently bar them from registering with the CFTC or trading in any CFTC-regulated market.
Why this case matters
Most cases on this page involve customers actually receiving overpriced metal. This one alleges something closer to simple theft with an investment-fraud wrapper: money that customers sent to buy precious metals was, according to the complaint, taken for the defendants’ own use, and forged documents were allegedly created to keep customers from noticing.
No one showed up
A default judgment means the defendants did not contest the case at all, no denial, no defense, no settlement negotiation. The court entered judgment based on the allegations and evidence the CFTC and California’s regulator put before it, which is also why the outcome here is recorded as a sanction imposed after the fact rather than a negotiated settlement.
A state and a federal regulator, together
This case was filed jointly by the CFTC and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, a pairing that shows up repeatedly in precious metals cases, since state financial regulators often reach dealers and individuals before a federal case is ready, and the two agencies share evidence and litigate together rather than separately.
The caveat
Because this ended in a default judgment rather than a trial or a negotiated settlement, the specific factual allegations, including the claim that documents were forged, were not tested through cross-examination or contested evidence. The court’s findings rest on the complaint and the evidence the regulators submitted, which the defendants, by not appearing, did not dispute.
Sources
- Federal Court Orders Precious Metals Dealer, its CEO and President to Pay $49M for Fraudulent Misappropriation Scheme. US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Accessed 2026-09-26. Supports: The defendant names, the September 2023 complaint, the $21-million/120-customer misappropriation figures, the forged documents, the October 2024 default judgment, the $49.2 million combined total, and the permanent bans.
- California DFPI and CFTC Unite to File $21 Million Lawsuit Against Regal Assets for Targeting Retirement Savings. California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Accessed 2026-09-26. Supports: The joint CFTC/DFPI filing of the original complaint and the state regulator's role as co-plaintiff.