Posted on 11/03/2026 5:26:42 AM PST by Red Badger
A 97-year-old La Jolla man and his 85-year-old wife say former Disney star Erik von Detten talked them into putting $2.15 million of their retirement savings into overpriced gold coins worth only about $1.36 million at the time – a nearly 60% markup that left them with roughly 400 fewer ounces of gold than they would have gotten at spot prices.
The TV-advertised precious metals dealer he worked for, Rosland Capital, has since collapsed into bankruptcy, owing customers $49 million for gold and silver they paid for and never received.
Norman and Sheila Greenberg sued von Detten and Rosland Capital LLC in Los Angeles County Superior Court on May 11, alleging financial elder abuse, fraud, constructive fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and conversion. Rosland filed for Chapter 11 on July 2.
Now the official committee of unsecured creditors in Rosland’s bankruptcy wants von Detten’s records, arguing in a motion first reported by Variety that he appears to have “played an instrumental part in the Debtor’s business and its financial collapse.” A case management conference in the Greenbergs’ civil suit is set for Nov. 9 in Santa Monica.
“The Greenbergs’ story is not unique,” the committee’s lawyers wrote. “It is one of hundreds.” The committee says the facts point to “a business that preyed on a vulnerable population, stole customer money while its ability to perform was collapsing, [and] lied to its own customers about what their money would be used for.”
That leaves creditors asking whether their money was “misused, diverted, transferred to insiders or affiliates, or simply consumed to keep the scheme alive.”
Using Bankruptcy Rule 2004, the committee has also subpoenaed records from Rosland founder and CEO Marin Aleksov and IRA custodian Goldstar Trust Company. The docket shows Judge Sheri Bluebond signed off on the Goldstar examination on Oct. 21.
Rosland spent years advertising on Fox News and Newsmax with commercials starring actor William Devane, who pitched gold as a hedge against inflation and instability and urged retirees to roll their IRAs into precious metals. The only creditor named on Rosland’s initial bankruptcy petition is Fox News Network, owed more than $1.9 million.
The Greenbergs called Rosland in the summer of 2020 after seeing ads that, according to the complaint, “created real concern for the safety of their wealth.” They told von Detten they knew little about gold but had roughly $2 million in retirement accounts.
He “earned their trust and confidence such that they agreed to accept his recommendations without question,” the suit says, describing Rosland’s marketing as “designed in large part to appeal to senior citizens through their television and internet advertising, direct mail brochures, and high-pressure boiler-room type sales practices.”
On Oct. 19, 2020, the couple bought 1,328 quarter-ounce Lady Liberty gold coins for $999,173.92 through IRA rollovers, followed on Nov. 5 by another 1,499 coins for $1,147,784.30, according to court filings obtained by Fox News.
Instead of going to the couple, the coins were shipped to the Delaware Depository, leaving the Greenbergs to pay ongoing storage and account fees. The complaint says von Detten “hounded” them to invest more and that Rosland “likely” viewed them as a “whale.” Once their retirement accounts were drained, they bought more coins through their family trust in August 2021.
Rosland billed the couple $752.39 for each quarter-ounce coin in the October order – working out to $3,009.56 per ounce of gold on a day when spot bullion traded near $1,903. Across the two IRA orders, the Greenbergs paid $2.15 million for roughly 707 ounces of gold – about $1.36 million worth of actual metal – when the same money at spot prices would have bought around 1,100 ounces. They are seeking a jury trial, at least $900,000 in compensatory damages, and punitive damages.
Gold has more than doubled since then. It hit a record near $5,600 an ounce in late January and trades around $3,875 now, making 707 ounces worth roughly $2.7 million if the coins are actually sitting in the depository. At current prices, the roughly 400 ounces eaten up by Rosland’s initial markup would be worth more than $1.5 million.
Rosland’s own first-day bankruptcy filing describes a dealer that took customer cash up front and waited to buy the metal later. As gold surged to record highs, customer orders backed up for months.
“During this interval, the price of gold usually increased dramatically such that Debtor ended up paying more for the gold product than the customer paid Debtor for that product,” the filing states. “This situation was not sustainable and the Debtor lost money rapidly.”
Sales reps still collected commissions of 15% to 35% of the gross profit on each order – paid out as soon as the customer’s money arrived, even if the order was later canceled or never filled.
Rosland let go of nearly all its staff by June 19. By the time it filed for Chapter 11 two weeks later, the company had no metal inventory left and owed roughly $49 million on unfulfilled orders from 484 customers, plus another $11.8 million on buybacks it never paid out – with some 470 messages and voicemails waiting from customers demanding their money or their metal.
The petition lists $50 million to $100 million in liabilities against $1 million to $10 million in assets. Revenue fell from $151 million in 2021 to $97.8 million in 2025, with cumulative net losses topping $24 million between 2022 and 2025. Variety notes that the bankruptcy filings also disclose active investigations by the New York Attorney General’s office and the SEC.
Other customers are caught in the same bind, including a Wisconsin family trying to recover $55,000 paid to Rosland for gold and silver they thought was sitting in storage. On Oct. 2, rival dealer American Hartford Gold closed a $3.8 million purchase of Rosland’s assets and customer list, without assuming any of Rosland’s liabilities.
Rosland’s bankruptcy lawyers told E! News they could not comment on the Greenbergs’ suit, but said they have worked with the creditors’ committee to set up a liquidating trust to investigate the company’s finances.
Von Detten, 44, joined Rosland in 2018 after largely stepping away from acting around 2010. He played Josh Bryant in “The Princess Diaries,” starred in the Disney Channel movie “Brink!,” and voiced Sid in “Toy Story.” He has not publicly addressed the suit and did not respond to Variety’s request for comment.
In February 2022, the CFTC and a coalition of state regulators sued another precious metals dealer, Safeguard Metals, accusing it of charging elderly customers roughly $26 million in steep markups on gold and silver coins as part of a fraudulent scheme.
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Seems to be a whole lot of Fraud everywhere one looks in todays America
My rule on gold and silver is if you can’t touch it, you don’t own it. All you own is a piece of paper.
Same rule applies to Bitcoin and other fake money - it’s always “some offshore hacker got it”.
Precious metal peddlers on television are utter scammers, followed by insurance policy buyers. As to the latter, a couple years ago I had a client ask about selling his policy to JD Wentworth for half a million. My partner deals in insurance and after 4 or 5 months got him $2.3 million through a broker who essentially auctioned the policy.
I don’t even know if I’d call gold coins a scam. It such an obvious scam that I don’t see how anyone can view buying gold coins as an investment in gold or anything else. Its like the people who think that buying jewelry at Zales or art at Art.com is an investment, or porcelain figurines at the local mall as an investment. You are buying b-rate collectibles. I am sorry that this senior citizen got scammed but this is a lesson to all senior citizens - buyer beware. This was not some sophisticated scam. Its one that easily could have been avoided.
They chose...poorly
What?
What’s the value of a horse?
If they stole more than the value of a horse, hang them.
They’ll stop stealing if they are properly hanged, I promise.
I have bought the US Mint sealed tubes of 1 oz coins from a dealer on EBAY. The one I have bought from several times is Pinehurst Coins. I have also bought coins from the US Mint. However, not BULLION coins. Proof quality uncirculated collector coins. I just bought quarters recently.
When I have sold gold coins I took them to a local dealer who gave me the KITCO price that day.
Let me clarify. I only bought SILVER BULLION coins from Pinehurst on EBAY. Never gold coins.
There is a notable exception
Buy gold where there is the most of it. In the ground.
Buy shares in a mutual fund owning gold miner shares that own the gold in the ground.
There is no need for a safe or danger of being stolen. There is no cost of storage or insurance.
The gold fund shares lag, but track the gold market price.
It’s all in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills.
At which point you own the right to dig a hole.
Buy shares in a mutual fund owning gold miner shares that own the gold in the ground.
At which point you don't even own a piece of paper that could be substituted for toilet paper, just a computer record that can be hacked. By the way, have you ever read through the disclosures for one of those gold funds. The summary is that there might not really be any gold, after all.
You left out the most important part:
"...In somebody else's name".
You left out the most important part:
"...In somebody else's name".
Hold William Devane upside-down by his ankles and shake him until the gold tumbles out of his pockets....
Hmm. got a 504 gateway error, but it posted the first time anyway.
Come on folks, get those donations in so the problem gets fixed.
Dr Phil is now selling gold on TeeVee ... 🙃
Agree ... but the real problem here is the 58% premium over spot. That's insane.
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