Former Disney star Erik von Detten is being sued by an elderly California couple who claim he convinced them to invest more than $2.1 million of their retirement savings in overpriced gold coins.
Sheila Greenberg, 85, and her husband, Norman Greenberg, 97, filed the lawsuit against von Detten, who is best known for his roles in Disney’s “Brink” and “The Princess Diaries,” and his former employer, Rosland Capital, in Los Angeles County Superior Court on May 11. The complaint accuses the defendants of financial elder abuse, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud and conversion.
According to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, the Greenbergs believe Rosland “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.”
The Greenbergs claim they contacted Rosland in 2020 after seeing the television commercials promoting gold as a safe way to protect their wealth.
Once put in touch with von Detten, one of the company’s top advisors, the couple disclosed that their combined traditional IRA accounts contained more than $2 million.
“Von Detten earned Sheila’s and Norman’s trust. They believed him to be an expert and thus placed their faith completely in Von Detten to make the correct choices and recommendations and expressed as much to him,” the court documents state.
On Oct. 19, 2020, the Greenbergs allegedly followed von Detten’s recommendations and purchased more than $999,000 worth of Lady Liberty gold coins. The lawsuit claims Sheila paid $599,654.83 for 797 coins, while Norman paid $399,519.09 for 531 coins.
“They believed that, however valued, Von Detten was taking care of them and the price they paid was a fair price for what they bought and the gold they purchased was worth the money they spent. Afterall, this was an IRA rollover. An investment intended to protect their hard-earned wealth for retirement.”
The complaint alleges the coins were sold at a premium of roughly 60%. The Greenbergs claim they paid the equivalent of $3,009.56 per ounce when the spot price of gold was approximately $1,903 per ounce.
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The lawsuit claims the couple lost more than $367,000 in value almost immediately after the first transaction.
The Greenbergs allege von Detten continued contacting them and “hounded” them to invest even more money. The complaint claims Rosland “likely” viewed the couple as a “whale” after learning how much money they had available.
On Nov. 5, 2020, the couple allegedly made another purchase totaling more than $1.14 million. Sheila reportedly bought 885 additional coins for $677,644.50, while Norman purchased 614 coins for $470,139.80.
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The lawsuit claims the second transaction resulted in another immediate loss of more than $418,000.
In total, the Greenbergs allege they paid $2,146,958.22 for coins worth approximately $1,360,925. The complaint claims the couple’s entire traditional IRA accounts were rolled over into the gold investments.
The lawsuit also alleges the physical coins were never delivered to the Greenbergs. Instead, they were sent to Delaware Depository for storage. The couple claims they continued paying fees to maintain their gold IRA accounts and store the coins.
After the retirement accounts were “depleted,” the complaint alleges Rosland pursued other sources of money. In August 2021, the Greenbergs allegedly used their family trust to purchase nearly $200,000 worth of additional gold coins.
The lawsuit claims they paid $135,487 for 109 PAMP British Museum Lewis Chessmen coins that were worth approximately $48,832. They also allegedly paid $64,300 for 50 PAMP F1 Abu Dhabi coins that were worth about $22,420.
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The Greenbergs claim they did not realize they had been overcharged until 2025, when they began looking into the value of their holdings. When an Advantage Gold representative allegedly suggested the company operated differently from Rosland, Sheila turned to AI to look into Rosland’s business practices, a search that led her to uncover what she described as unethical conduct.
“By their conduct, Defendants took, secreted, appropriated, obtained or retained an unconscionable mark-up over the fair value of no less than $900,000 for a wrongful use, because they knew or should have known that doing so would likely be harmful to Plaintiffs,” the documents state.
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“Instead of helping them protect their hard-earned wealth, Defendants helped themselves to it. 49. In addition, Defendants committed financial elder abuse because they took, secreted, appropriated, obtained or retained Plaintiffs’ money with the intent to defraud.”
The couple is seeking at least $900,000 in compensatory damages, double damages, punitive damages, prejudgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs. They have also demanded a jury trial.
A representative for von Detten did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
