Short answer: yes, there was a lawsuit, it was brought by a state attorney general rather than a private firm, and it was settled for $6 million. The number that matters is not the $6 million though. It is the 33 percent.
The record
New York sued Lear Capital and its founder
Attorney General Letitia James filed suit against Lear Capital, Inc. and its founder Kevin DeMeritt, alleging the company defrauded New Yorkers in a precious metals investment scheme. At the filing stage this was an allegation.
$6 million, and the 33 percent that was not disclosed
The Attorney General announced a $6 million resolution. The allegation at the centre of it: Lear failed to disclose commissions of up to 33 percent on sales, to investors described as including many elderly residents of Western New York who were trying to protect their retirement savings.
Lear also agreed to change how it operates in New York: clear fee disclosure, a 24-hour cancellation window on retirement and higher-fee transactions, better complaint tracking, and staff training. Note what a consent order is and is not. It resolves the case. It is not an admission that every allegation was true.
Source: ag.ny.gov, Attorney General James secures $6 million from Lear Capital
Chapter 11, and the company kept trading
Lear filed for bankruptcy under Subchapter V of Chapter 11 shortly after the New York settlement, while other state regulators were still looking at the company. Subchapter V is a reorganisation route for smaller businesses, so unlike Oxford Gold Group this is not a liquidation and the company continued to operate. Several states subsequently issued investor alerts and a further multistate distribution to affected investors followed.
Source: Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, investor alert
Why 33 percent is the whole story
Most coverage of this case leads with the $6 million. That is the least useful number in it, because it tells you what the state recovered rather than what happened to a buyer.
Work it through. If a third of your money goes to commission the moment you buy, you are left holding metal worth about 67 cents on your dollar. For you to break even, that metal now has to rise by roughly 50 percent. Gold can do that, but it can take years, and during those years you are not ahead, you are climbing back to level. Someone who bought in that window and needed the money before the recovery simply lost.
This is the same mechanism behind almost every enforcement action in this industry, and it is why our enforcement dossier is organised around the spread rather than around the metal. The product is rarely the problem. The price is.
What this means if you are considering Lear today
A settled case from 2022 does not tell you what a company charges in 2026, and we are not going to pretend it does. What it does give you is a specific question that this company has already been forced to answer once, so you are entitled to ask it directly:
- What is the total price above spot on this specific order, in dollars and as a percentage? Not the annual fee, not the storage cost. The spread on the metal itself, in writing, before you pay.
- What is the buyback price for the same items today? The gap between those two numbers is your real cost, and any dealer can tell you both.
- What is the cancellation window? New York customers got 24 hours on retirement transactions as part of the settlement. Ask what applies where you live.
A dealer who answers all three plainly and in writing has told you more than any rating on any review site can. One who will not is telling you something too.
Related
- Lear Capital complaints
- Oxford Gold Group, a dealer that did not survive
- Every enforcement action we have documented
Checked against the New York Attorney General's published record on 1 August 2026. We have no commercial relationship with Lear Capital.
Thomas Richardson
The byline we publish our retirement research under. We are not licensed advisers. We read the primary sources, compare what companies publish, and write down what we find, including where a figure could not be verified.
Fact-checked by Sarah Mitchell, CPA — Licensed CPA with 15 years in retirement tax planning