Published
October 23, 2026
Investors who lost principal in a J&J Consulting Services or J and J Purchasing lawsuit-settlement investment contract between January 2017 and March 2022 will share a $50 million Wells Fargo class action settlement pro rata through the court-appointed receiver; those with an allowed receivership claim do not need to file anything. The late-claim, opt-out and objection deadline was October 12, 2026, and the final approval hearing is set for November 12, 2026.
Current Status
Claims are closed. October 12, 2026 was the deadline to opt out, to object, and for investors who never filed a claim with the receiver to submit one. Judge Cristina D. Silva preliminarily approved the settlement on July 9, 2026, and the final approval hearing is set for November 12, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in Las Vegas. No final approval order had been entered and no payment date for the Wells Fargo money had been announced as of October 23, 2026. Class members with an allowed claim in the receivership do not need to file anything.Free settlement alerts
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Status
Claims Closed — Awaiting Final Approval
Final approval hearing November 12, 2026
Claim Deadline
October 12, 2026
Passed · applied only to investors with no receivership claim · also the opt-out and objection deadline
Estimated Payout
Pro rata share of about $33.4M
OCA estimate: $50M less requested fees, expenses and service awards, before administration costs · split by each investor’s allowed net loss
Proof Required
Automatic Payment
Paid on the receiver’s allowed claim amount · late claimants had to send a signed proof of claim with supporting documents
What Changed Recently?
On September 8, 2026, the plaintiffs asked the court for final approval and filed their request for attorneys’ fees. The final approval motion reports that, as of September 4, 2026, no class member had opted out or objected, and no class member had filed a new claim. On September 22, 2026, the receiver filed a response to the fee request; its contents are not publicly available. On October 2, 2026, Judge Silva approved a stipulated schedule giving the plaintiffs until October 30, 2026 to file replies supporting both motions and to answer any responses or objections (ECF No. 304). Judge Silva will hear the motions on November 12.Separately, on October 2, 2026, Judge Silva approved the receiver’s plan in the companion SEC case to begin paying allowed claims from receivership assets, an initial round of about $70 million, and the receivership website says those checks were mailed October 14. That distribution does not include the Wells Fargo money. The receiver’s distribution motion describes the Wells Fargo settlement as still before the court.
The settlement resolves the consolidated class action In re J&J Investment Litigation, No. 2:22-cv-00529 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, first filed as Henzel v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., along with the receiver’s own suit, Winkler v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 2:23-cv-00703. Judge Gloria M. Navarro presided over the class action until it was reassigned to Judge Silva on June 2, 2026. Wells Fargo denies any wrongdoing or knowledge of the scheme, and the court has not decided the case for either side.
What Is the Case About?
Matthew Beasley, a Las Vegas-area attorney, and Jeffrey Judd promoted investments that were described as funding for personal-injury plaintiffs waiting on settlement payments. According to the plaintiffs and the receiver, there were no such settlements: money from newer investors was used to pay returns to earlier ones, and investor funds were spent on gambling, real estate, cars and other personal purchases. The scheme collapsed after Beasley’s arrest by the FBI in March 2022, and the plaintiffs’ preliminary approval motion says he has since pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud.Most of the investor money flowed through the attorney trust account, known as an IOLTA, that Beasley’s law firm kept at Wells Fargo. The plaintiffs allege that Wells Fargo saw red flags in the account’s activity and kept accepting deposits and executing transfers anyway. They sued under the Nevada Uniform Fiduciaries Act and for aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting fraud, and negligence. In March 2023, Judge Navarro dismissed the negligence claim and let the other three proceed. The parties then completed fact and expert discovery and briefed class certification and summary judgment, and the case settled after a third mediation session on October 1, 2025, before any of those motions were decided.
Who Qualifies?
The settlement class is all natural and legal persons who invested in a J&J Entity lawsuit settlement contract between January 2017 and March 2022 and who lost some or all of their principal, as determined by the receiver and recorded in the receiver’s official records filed in the SEC case. The J&J Entities are J&J Consulting Services, Inc. (a Nevada corporation), J&J Consulting Services, Inc. (an Alaska corporation) and J and J Purchasing LLC (a Florida limited liability company).Excluded are Wells Fargo, the Relevant Non-Parties defined in the consolidated complaint, and their parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, legal representatives, successors and employees, plus the judges assigned to the case and their close relatives. Because the class covers only investors who lost principal, investors who received more than they put in are not class members. In its October 2, 2026 order, the court noted the receiver’s estimate that the scheme had more than 1,200 investors, more than 950 of whom lost money.
How Much Can You Get?
Each class member’s payment is a pro rata share of the net settlement fund, based on the dollar amount of the investor’s allowed claim. The claim amount is the investor’s net investment, meaning total money invested minus any returns or distributions received. The class notice does not estimate a per-investor amount.As an OpenClassActions.com estimate, not a figure from the notice: if the court grants the fee and expense request in full ($15,623,750 in attorneys’ fees, $900,000 in expenses and eight $10,000 service awards), about $33.4 million would remain before notice and administration costs. Plaintiffs’ counsel estimated recoverable damages at trial at about $121.95 million, so they describe the $50 million as roughly 41% of what the class might have recovered. No money goes back to Wells Fargo, including uncashed checks.
Payments from the Wells Fargo fund go only to class members. They also reduce each investor’s remaining claim against the receivership estate. A late claim allowed under this settlement shares in the Wells Fargo fund but not in general receivership distributions.
What Proof Is Required?
Nothing new is required from class members who filed a claim with the receiver during the receivership claims period, which ran from September 1 to December 1, 2025. They are paid on their allowed claim amount. Disputes over a receiver’s claim determination are decided by the judge in the SEC case.Investors who never filed in the receivership could submit a claim under this settlement, governed by the same rules as the SEC claims process. The receivership’s proof of claim form requires a signature, a Social Security or taxpayer identification number, each investment date and amount, and copies of investment agreements or other supporting documents, or a written explanation if documents are unavailable. That route closed October 12, 2026.
What Is the Deadline?
Every class member deadline was October 12, 2026: submitting a late claim, opting out, objecting and filing a notice of intention to appear at the hearing. The class notice gives no time zone. Opt-outs and objections had to be sent by mail. Under the preliminary approval order, a class member who did not submit a timely claim is barred from payment unless the court orders otherwise, but is still bound by the settlement.How Do You Take Action?
There is no claim form left to file. The settlement agreement, class notice, court orders and the final approval and fee motions are posted on the receivership’s Wells Fargo Settlement page, which the class notice names as the case website. Name, address and claim-information changes go through the receivership website’s contact page.What Happens Next?
Judge Silva will hold the class final approval hearing on November 12, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Las Vegas, and will also decide the fee, expense and service award requests. The court can move the hearing without further notice, and changes are posted on the receivership website. The settlement also needs approval in the SEC case, SEC v. Beasley, No. 2:22-cv-00612, whose own final approval hearing, which also covers the related Bar Order, is set for 1:30 p.m. the same day.If both approvals are granted and the settlement becomes effective, Wells Fargo has 30 business days to deposit the $50 million with the receiver. The receiver then has 60 days from the later of the Effective Date and approval of the SEC distribution plan to send payments. The distribution plan was approved on October 2, 2026, so the timing now turns on final approval and any appeal.
Sources and Verification
- Case website named in the class notice — J&J Consulting Receivership: Wells Fargo Settlement (settlement agreement, approved class notice, Bar Order notice, orders and motions)
- Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement and Providing for Notice, In re J&J Investment Litigation, No. 2:22-cv-00529-CDS-NJK, ECF No. 292 (D. Nev. July 9, 2026), granting the motion at ECF No. 286
- Class Action Notice, approved July 2026 (deadlines of October 12, 2026; hearing November 12, 2026)
- Settlement Agreement and Release dated April 21, 2026, filed as ECF No. 286-1
- Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Approval, ECF No. 286 (filed April 27, 2026)
- Plaintiffs’ Motion for Final Approval, ECF No. 300, and Motion for Attorneys’ Fees, Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses, and Service Awards, ECF No. 301 (both filed September 8, 2026)
- Joint Stipulation and Order for Briefing Schedule on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Final Approval and for Attorneys’ Fees, ECF No. 304 (D. Nev. October 2, 2026)
- Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Settlement, Bar Order, and Providing for Notice, SEC v. Beasley, No. 2:22-cv-00612-CDS-EJY, ECF No. 960 (D. Nev. July 10, 2026)
- Order approving the receiver’s distribution plan, SEC v. Beasley, ECF No. 1046 (D. Nev. Oct. 2, 2026), and the receiver’s distribution motion, ECF No. 982
- Order on Wells Fargo’s motion to dismiss, ECF No. 74 (D. Nev. Mar. 18, 2023), via Justia
- Docket, Henzel v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 2:22-cv-00529, via Justia Dockets
Questions
Were the October 2026 receivership checks paid from the Wells Fargo settlement?
No. On October 2, 2026 the court in the SEC case approved the receiver’s plan to begin distributing about $70 million of receivership assets on allowed claims, and the receivership website says those checks were mailed October 14. The $50 million Wells Fargo settlement is separate; it still needs final approval, and Wells Fargo funds it only within 30 business days after the settlement’s Effective Date.
Why is the J&J receiver distributing the Wells Fargo settlement money?
The receiver, Geoff Winkler, had already traced the scheme’s money, compiled investor addresses and set each investor’s net loss in the SEC case. The settlement uses that work instead of building a second claims process: payments follow the receiver’s court-approved claim amounts, Stretto handles notice and opt-outs, and any claim dispute goes to the judge in the SEC case.
How much of the $50 million goes to attorneys?
Plaintiffs’ counsel asked the court on September 8, 2026 for $15,623,750 in attorneys’ fees, about 31.25% of the fund, down from the up-to-33.33% figure in the notice because the receiver’s lawyers agreed to a 25% fee on their share. They also asked for $900,000 in expenses and $10,000 service awards for each of the eight class representatives. The court decides those amounts and can award less.
Who was left out of the Wells Fargo J&J settlement class?
Investors who came out ahead, known as net winners, are not class members because the class covers only people who lost principal. Wells Fargo, the Relevant Non-Parties defined in the consolidated complaint and their affiliates, and the assigned judges and their close relatives are excluded. Net winners, non-investor creditors and people tied to the J&J entities were instead sent a separate Bar Order notice in the SEC case.
What happens to Wells Fargo settlement money that is not cashed?
The settlement is non-reversionary. The agreement says that in no event will any undistributed portion of the fund or any uncashed payments be returned to Wells Fargo. Checks returned as undeliverable get one address search and one re-mailing.
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Settlement Amount
$50,000,000
Case Title
In re J&J Investment Litigation (formerly Henzel v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.)
Case Number
2:22-cv-00529-CDS-NJK
Court
U.S. District Court, District of Nevada
Final Approval Hearing
November 12, 2026 at 10:00 AM PT
Before Judge Cristina D. Silva in Las Vegas; may be moved without further notice
Administrator
Stretto, Inc. (notice and opt-outs); payments by Receiver Geoff Winkler
Official Website
J&J Consulting Receivership
