Hotshot banker thankful for ‘fantastic’ decision on $17M SEC case

Guy Gentile, the hotshot banker whose angry ex-girlfriend drove his Mercedes-Benz into the pool of his Bahamas home, beat a $17 million civil fraud case brought by the federal government on Wednesday.

When New Jersey federal court Judge Jose L. Linares tossed the Securities and Exchange Commission suit against Gentile, it ended nearly two years of litigation the investor claims was started merely out of spite.

The judge’s move was not unexpected. The Supreme Court earlier this year set a five-year limit on government disgorgement gains.

The SEC case is the second Gentile has won this year. A criminal charge brought by the Justice Department was defeated in January.

“I just read the decision — OMG — it is FANTASTIC!” Gentile texted to The Post. “Thank you, Judge Linares and Merry Christmas.”

“We are gratified with Judge Linares’ well-reasoned decision,” Adam Ford, Gentile’s lawyer, told The Post. “Obviously, Mr. Gentile is a well-respected entrepreneur who poses no risk of harm to the public, and the SEC’s attempts to brand him based only on his public statements that were justifiably critical of the SEC were rightfully dismissed.”

Gentile became an FBI informant in 2012 after the feds accused him of running a pump-and-dump scheme.

Gentile helped put away more than a dozen financial scammers — but then turned on the feds when they refused to drop their case against him as promised.