Dear Euro Pacific Bank Customer,

I am writing to explain the settlement agreement reached between Qenta and the Trustee regarding Opt-In customers, and to share my personal views and recommendations concerning the options available under that agreement. As always, customers should consult their own attorney before making any decisions.

As many of you know, I previously obtained a temporary restraining order freezing approximately $85 million of EPB-related assets in Qenta’s possession. In my opinion, that action created a path toward recovering substantially more value for customers, including appreciation in gold and mutual fund positions. However, after the Trustee declined to support that action, the TRO was ultimately vacated. The Trustee later filed a RICO lawsuit in Puerto Rico that was subsequently settled.

Although Opt-In customers are not parties to the settlement agreement, the agreement affects your rights and requires you to make important decisions. I chose not to sign the settlement because I disagreed with several of its terms and because I believed there were alternative legal strategies that may have produced a better recovery for customers and the bank.

One of my primary concerns is that the agreement does not require Qenta or the bank to pay customers the current market value of their gold. Instead, gold claims are paid based on the prices actually realized when the gold was sold without customers’ authorization.  Another concern is that the agreement leaves all mutual fund claims exclusively with Qenta to administer. 

Based on Brent De Jong’s sworn deposition testimony in an unrelated legal proceeding, he acknowledged that customer gold was sold and that proceeds were used to pay Qenta’s operating expenses, buy illiquid acquisitions for subsidiaries, and make proprietary gold investments. In my opinion, customers should benefit from the subsequent appreciation in value following the unauthorized sale of their gold.

I am also concerned that Brent De Jong did not sign the agreement personally and that Qenta’s obligations are tied to assets currently held by Qenta and its affiliates. I do not know the extent of Qenta’s current financial resources available to satisfy customer claims. I am also concerned that two affiliated entities that are parties to the agreement appear to be defunct. I have no idea how much longer Qenta itself will remain in business. Its website went down in July 2025, the same month it terminated the Purchase and Assumption Agreement. Also that month, Qecosystems, which appears to be a successor company to Qenta, went live. Qecosystems is not a party to the settlement agreement and may not be considered a Qenta subsidiary.

Below are my observations and recommendations regarding your options. Again, you should consult your own attorney before making any decision.

Action to Take Now

1. If you are an Opt-In customer who owns only cash

I recommend that you promptly file a claim with the Trustee to take advantage of the opportunity to reverse migrate your claim back to the bank. If you do not do so, Qenta will remain solely responsible for handling your claim.

While the Trustee has moved slowly in processing many claims, the settlement gives Qenta broad discretion regarding claims it administers. In my opinion, customers will have a better chance of recovery through the Trustee-administered process than by relying exclusively on Qenta.

For all claims see the instructions from the Trustee at the end of this email.

2. If you are an Opt-Out customer whose claim has not yet been approved

I recommend emailing the Trustee to make clear that you want your claim satisfied through the bank liquidation process and not administered by Qenta. There has been substantial confusion regarding which customers were treated as Opt-In versus Opt-Out. This is your last chance to clear up that confusion.

3. If you are a customer who owns silver

Silver holders appear to be in the strongest position under the settlement agreement. Unlike gold, the agreement permits customers to take possession of their silver holdings immediately and retain the full benefit of any appreciation.

Under the agreement, customers may request that their silver be transferred to a custodian of their choice.  The two best, no-cost options are:

1. 1. Open your own personal account at Silver Bullion using the following link.  https://www.silverbullion.com.sg/Register? 
   2. Alternatively, you can open an account with Schiff Gold. We use Gold Silver Depository as custodian, which has an omnibus account with Silver Bullion. Of course, I will benefit from this decision through my personal relationship with Schiff Gold. Use the following link to open your account. https://storage.schiffgold.com/

If you wish to pursue one of the above options, you must notify both Silver Bullion directly and the Trustee with your instructions.  The settlement agreement requires that you notify Silver Bullion directly, but Silver Bullion has told me they will not follow those instructions as they must come from the Trustee. But once you notify both, in my opinion the Trustee would be in breach if he fails to provide Silver Bullion with the information they need to follow your instructions.

IMPORTANT: Here is what to write in your email addressed to both Silver Bullion and the Trustee: 

Per Section 2.5 of the Settlement Agreement signed by the Trustee and Qenta, I hereby instruct Silver Bullion to transfer my silver into (either write “an account in my own name” or “to my account with Gold Silver Depository” depending on which option you choose) I further instruct the Trustee to provide Silver Bullion with all information required to comply with these instructions.”

The Silver Bullion email address is [email protected]

The Trustee’s email address is: [email protected]

You may also choose to file a new claim to reverse migrate your silver claim to the bank, in which case your silver will be sold. However, in my opinion, taking possession of your silver will result in a much faster recovery. Even if you want to sell and take the cash, Silver Bullion or Schiff Gold will likely send it to you much sooner than the Trustee.

If you take no action, your silver will be sold and the proceeds sent to Qenta, which will then be solely responsible for handling your claim for a cash payment based on the proceeds received from the sale.

4. If you are an Opt-In customer who owns mutual funds

Unfortunately, under the settlement agreement, mutual fund claims remain exclusively under the administration of Qenta and its affiliates and cannot reverse migrate back to the bank.  That means customers who own mutual funds will need to submit claims directly to Qenta, which the settlement agreement specifically requires Qenta to validate and pay.  I assume mutual fund customers will be contacted with instructions on how to do that.

The settlement agreement does not clearly specify whether customers are entitled to the current market value of their mutual funds or some earlier valuation. As of a few months ago, no mutual fund positions had been sold. The market value of those funds has appreciated substantially since Qenta gained control.

If Qenta does not begin paying mutual fund customers’ claims in a reasonable period of time, the settlement agreement provides that the Trustee can seek appropriate legal relief against Qenta. The Settlement Agreement also reads that the court in Puerto Rico shall retain jurisdiction to enforce the settlement, but the Trustee forgot to ask the judge to do so and has not tried to correct his mistake. That means the Trustee will have to file a new lawsuit to cure Qenta’s breach.

If Qenta fails to pay or offers less than what your mutual funds are worth, and the Trustee fails to take the appropriate legal action, the settlement agreement preserves your right to file your own lawsuit against Brent De Jong and Qenta to recover the full value of your claim. 

5. If you are an Opt-In customer who owns gold

Gold holders must make a decision. In my opinion, the better option, if you are willing to accept the discounted price, is to file a claim with the Trustee and reverse migrate back to the bank. This will result in payment using the negotiated “realized” gold values referenced in the settlement agreement rather than current market prices. According to that agreement, the price you will receive is about $3,300 per ounce. The current market price of gold is about $4,500.  This is much better than Qenta’s initial $1,700 offer.

The alternative option, only to be chosen if you don’t want to accept the discount, is to decline reverse migration and seek payment directly from Qenta. In my opinion, customers have strong legal arguments that Qenta owes them the full market value of their gold. Therefore, customers could attempt to negotiate a better price directly with Qenta, or forgo the discounted price Qenta agreed to pay in the settlement and file a lawsuit against Qenta and Brent De Jong to recover the full market value of their gold, which is subject to market fluctuations.  But because litigation is uncertain, expensive, and time-consuming, my recommendation is that all gold holders should just take the 27% haircut and file a claim with the Trustee to reverse migrate back to the bank. 

But if you refuse to give up your legal claim to the full value, and prefer to participate in a group lawsuit against Brent De Jong or Qenta to recover that full value of your gold (or mutual funds if Qenta does not pay or imposes a haircut you don’t want to accept) send me  an email to [email protected].  I will help organize the group effort. 

But whatever you decide, please do so quickly, as there is just a 60-day window to file your claim with the bank.  If you miss that window, your claim will permanently remain with Qenta.  Of course, remember to consult your own attorney prior to taking any action.

Sincerely,

Peter Schiff

Below are the claims instructions provided by the Trustee.

A designated website portal has been established to channel all communications regarding this liquidation process as well as to receive documents and correspondence relevant to your claim. 

For questions or for obtaining additional information, please use the contact information detailed below: 

Email: [email protected] and [email protected]  

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 11492, San Juan, PR 00922-1492 

Domain: https://epbprliquidation.com/  

Filing of Proofs of Claims for Processing: a. Download the Proof of Claim: Access the EPIB Domain to download the necessary form. b. Complete the Form: Fill out the Proof of Claim form with accurate and detailed information as required. c. Monitor Your Email: After filing your claim, regularly check your email, including spam/junk folders, for a message from the trustee containing next steps.

After the sixty (60) day period for filing claims, a list of submitted claims will be published at https://epbprliquidation.com/ within thirty (30) days. This list will include a description of the claim, the amount, and a breakdown of accounts payable and/or debts.