Norman Greenberg is 97. His wife Sheila is 85. The La Jolla couple say they spent more than $2.1 million buying gold coins they believed were fairly priced, only to learn years later the coins were worth roughly $1.3 million — and now they're suing a former Disney Channel star they say steered them into the deal.
Norman and Sheila Greenberg filed the lawsuit against Erik von Detten and Rosland Capital LLC on May 11 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to USA Today. Von Detten, now 44, is known to a generation of viewers as Josh Bryant opposite Anne Hathaway in the 2001 film The Princess Diaries, with other Disney credits including Brink!, So Weird and the voice of Sid in Toy Story, per the same account. He stepped away from acting and, by 2018, had become a broker for Rosland Capital, a precious-metals dealer, with his most recent listed acting role being Mark in the 2024 TV movie My Acting Coach Nightmare.
How the Deal Began
The Greenbergs say their relationship with Rosland Capital started in 2020, after a television advertisement prompted them to call the company, the outlet reports. According to the lawsuit, the couple told von Detten they knew little about gold but had more than $2 million in retirement accounts — and he encouraged them to use that money to buy gold coins, as The Independent reports.
Von Detten recommended Lady Liberty gold coins, and the Greenbergs placed two initial orders totaling about $1 million. Rather than delivering the coins, the lawsuit alleges Rosland Capital sent them to Delaware Depository for storage, and the couple says they paid recurring storage and account-maintenance fees to both companies, the report states. Von Detten later allegedly encouraged the couple to invest roughly $1 million more, with the transactions spanning from October 2020 to August 2021.
A $900,000 Loss, By Their Account
It wasn't until 2025 that the Greenbergs looked into what their coins were actually worth, according to the lawsuit. They allege they paid far more than the coins were worth because of substantial markups — about $2.1 million total for coins they say were worth roughly $1.3 million. The lawsuit claims Rosland Capital and von Detten charged prices that grossly exceeded each order's market value while misleading the couple into believing the prices were fair.
The Greenbergs are seeking at least $900,000 in damages, plus recovery of their losses and punitive damages, and they have requested a jury trial. The complaint lists five claims against von Detten and Rosland Capital, including elder abuse, intentional misrepresentation or concealment fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud and conversion. The lawsuit also alleges Rosland Capital relied on television and internet advertising, direct-mail brochures and high-pressure sales tactics aimed largely at seniors.
Court Date Set, Bankruptcy Looms
A case management conference is scheduled for Nov. 9 at 8:30 a.m. in Santa Monica before Judge Bradley S. Phillips, court records show. Von Detten has not publicly addressed the lawsuit, and Rosland Capital told E! News it could not comment directly on the case.
Complicating any recovery, Rosland Capital filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on July 2, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, according to bankruptcy filing data. The company reported between $1 million and $10 million in assets against $50 million to $100 million in liabilities, along with roughly $49 million in deferred revenue and an $11.8 million buyback list as of the petition date, per bankruptcy filing alerts. The same filing shows Rosland's revenue sliding from about $151.2 million in 2021 to roughly $97.8 million in 2025. Rosland Capital said it is working with a creditors committee to establish a liquidating trust that would have the power to investigate the company's financial history and address claims from the Greenbergs and other investors, the company stated.
Not an Isolated Complaint
Rising precious-metals prices triggered a surge of orders the dealer could not fulfill promptly, according to a report from TheStreet, contributing to gaps between money customers had already paid and metal Rosland had actually purchased from suppliers. The Greenbergs are not the only ones alleging losses: a Wisconsin family has separately sued Rosland Capital to recover $55,000 in life savings, The Independent reports.
The case remains pending, with a case management conference scheduled for Nov. 9. For now, the Greenbergs' allegations stand as claims in an active lawsuit, and both von Detten and Rosland Capital have yet to respond in detail to the specific accusations laid out in the complaint.
