Regal Assets Review: Out of Business?

Federal and California regulators accused Regal Assets, its owner Tyler Gallagher, and former president Leah Donoso of misappropriating customer money that was supposed to be used to purchase precious metals. In October 2024, a federal court entered default judgments ordering them to pay more than $49 million in restitution and penalties.

That changes the entire conversation.

Instead of a standard company review, this page is now a consumer warning and update on what happened to Regal Assets, why the old positive reviews no longer hold weight, and what retirement savers should learn from this case.

Our bottom line on Regal Assets

Regal Assets is not a trusted company for precious metals.

Based on the public enforcement record, this is not simply a case of a dealer going quiet or struggling operationally. Regulators alleged that more than 120 customers were affected and that more than $21 million in customer funds were misappropriated rather than used to buy metals as promised.

A federal court later entered judgments requiring over $21.9 million in restitution and over $27.3 million in civil monetary penalties.

If you are researching Gold IRA companies today, Regal Assets should be treated as a failed firm and a warning sign, not a viable option.

What happened to Regal Assets?

According to the complaint jointly filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, Regal Assets allegedly ran a scheme from at least November 2019 through October 2022. During that period, the company solicited customers to move money from retirement plans such as IRAs, 401(k)s, and Thrift Savings Plans into self-directed IRAs for the purpose of buying precious metals.

Regulators alleged that instead of using all of those funds to buy metals, the defendants misappropriated more than $21 million. The complaint says those funds came primarily from retirement accounts and that the company used false statements and forged documents to conceal what was happening.

The CFTC said the customer money was allegedly diverted to cover business expenses, salaries and bonuses, Gallagher’s competitive gaming business, his Beverly Hills home, and other obligations.

That is a far cry from the image Regal Assets once projected online.

The undelivered metals allegations

One of the most troubling parts of the complaint is how directly it addresses what many customers had been claiming for years: they sent money, but the metals were never properly purchased or delivered.

The complaint alleges that at least $21.4 million represented customer funds intended for precious metals that were never bought. It also describes how customers and custodians began asking why metals had not been credited to self-directed IRA accounts, and how one custodian discovered that many accounts had never received their metals.

Regulators also alleged that false shipping records, altered bank records, and inaccurate invoices were used to mislead customers and at least one SDIRA custodian into believing metals had been purchased, delivered to a depository, or that refunds had been sent.

In other words, the core customer complaint was not just high premiums or bad communication. It was that some people appear to have funded transactions for metals that never materialized.

When did Regal Assets collapse?

The public record suggests the unraveling was already underway by spring 2022.

According to the complaint, customers increasingly began requesting information about why their metals had not been credited to their SDIRA accounts. The complaint says employee departures followed, and that by late 2022 Regal Assets had ceased accepting calls or communicating with customers. It also says that as of November 30, 2022, the company’s bank accounts had a combined negative balance of about $413.

By early 2023, industry watchdog sites and review platforms were already reporting that Regal Assets’ website and phones were down and that the company appeared to have ceased trading. While those kinds of third-party observations are not as authoritative as regulator filings, they did line up with the enforcement timeline that became public later.

The 2024 federal court judgment

The biggest reason this page is no longer a normal review is that the case moved beyond allegations and into a court-ordered outcome.

On October 25, 2024, the CFTC announced that a federal judge in the Central District of California had issued default judgments against Regal Assets, Tyler Gallagher, and Leah Donoso. According to the CFTC, the orders required them to pay more than $21.9 million in restitution to customers and more than $27.3 million in civil monetary penalties, for a total exceeding $49 million.

The orders also permanently barred them from violating the law as charged and banned them from CFTC registration and trading in CFTC-regulated markets.

The California DFPI’s Regal Assets enforcement page lists the initial action date as September 27, 2023 and the most recent action date as October 15, 2024, matching the timeline of the court orders.

That is about as clear a signal as a consumer could ask for that Regal Assets should not be treated as an active, trustworthy Gold IRA company.

What about Regal Assets’ old ratings and reviews?

This is an important lesson for Gold IRA shoppers.

At one point, Regal Assets had strong visibility online and had accumulated positive ratings across review sites. Even now, remnants of older reputation signals still exist on the internet. But historical review scores can be dangerously misleading when a company later collapses or faces serious fraud allegations.

The Better Business Bureau profile for Regal Assets still shows highly negative recent consumer commentary, including reviews claiming that the company took money and failed to deliver promised goods and services. BBB also reminds readers that it does not guarantee the accuracy of third-party information in business profiles.

The larger takeaway is this: a polished online reputation is not a substitute for real due diligence.

Related: Gold vs Silver - Which should you own in your portfolio?

What Regal Assets teaches Gold IRA buyers

Regal Assets is a reminder that the Gold IRA industry has risks beyond premiums and fees.

Many retirement savers focus on whether a company offers free storage, waived setup fees, or “special deals” for new accounts. Those things matter, but they are secondary. Before moving retirement funds, buyers should be asking more basic questions:

• Is the dealer financially stable?
• Is the metal actually being purchased and delivered to the depository?
• Can the dealer document the transaction cleanly?
• Are the custodian and storage arrangements clear and independently verifiable?
• Are there recent regulatory actions, lawsuits, or unusual customer complaints?

In the Regal Assets case, regulators alleged the firm used new customer money in a Ponzi-like manner to pay older customers and refunds, while failing to buy all the metals it owed. That is exactly the kind of structural risk Gold IRA buyers need to understand before transferring retirement savings.

Should anyone open an account with Regal Assets today?

No.

There is no credible case for considering Regal Assets as a current option for a Gold IRA, silver IRA, or direct precious metals purchase. The firm is not a normal “high risk” dealer. It is a failed company tied to major regulator action and a large federal judgment.

If you still encounter old review pages, outdated blogcontent, or cached recommendations for Regal Assets, treat them as stale information.

Related: Stocks vs Gold During Financial Crises - What the Data Shows

Regal Assets: Avoid at All Costs

Regal Assets is out of business and should be avoided completely.

At this point, the story is not just that the company disappeared. Regulators alleged that retirement savers’ funds were misappropriated, that metals were never bought for many customers, and that false records were used to keep the scheme going. A federal court later entered default judgments totaling more than $49 million.

For GoldIRASecrets readers, the correct update is simple:

Regal Assets is no longer under consideration as a Gold IRA company. It belongs on the list of cautionary examples that show why careful vetting matters in this industry.

Search the web and read verified customer reviews on sites like BBB, BCA, Trustpilot, and TrustLink to find and vet a trusted Gold IRA dealer.

Here's a quick rundown of some of the best Regal Assets alternatives:

• Augusta Precious Metals: Augusta has overwhelmingly positive customer reviews. The firm is 5-star rated, and is the only gold IRA company to offer potential customers a one-on-one educational web conference designed by their Harvard trained Director of Education. In 10+ years of business, Augusta is an established leader in serving gold IRA customers.  Read our full review here.
  
  The downside? Augusta has an account minimum of $50,000. This may be too high for some customers.
• Goldco: Goldco is consistently ranked across trusted financial sites a top gold IRA provider. Goldco is an INC 500 company with thousands of 5-star reviews from happy customers.
  
  CEO Trevor Gerszt has been named to the Board of Directors for the Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles and Silicon Valley. There's a lot to like about Goldco. Read our full Goldco review here.
  
  Goldco has no account minimum, making them an option for customers at all income levels. 
  
  
• Birch Gold Group: With endorsements from Ben Shapiro, Ron Paul, and other prominent conservative figures, perhaps no gold IRA company has the trusted name recognition of Birch Gold Group. With 20+ years in business, the top rated gold IRA company has thousands of happy customers in all 50 states.
  
  With an account minimum as low as $10,000, working with Birch Gold is accessible to most Americans. Read our full review here.