The dramatic downfall of 777 Partners reached its climax on October 16, 2025, as Josh Wander, co-founder of the Miami-based investment firm, was criminally charged with conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud for allegedly defrauding lenders and investors out of approximately $500 million. The indictment, unsealed in Manhattan federal court, represents the culmination of a spectacular corporate collapse that has left a trail of destruction across global soccer, aviation, and financial services industries. The charges detail how Wander allegedly fabricated financial documents, double-pledged collateral worth over $350 million, and operated what prosecutors describe as an elaborate shell game to fund his acquisition spree of European soccer clubs and other assets.
The 777 Partners saga represents one of the most audacious financial frauds in modern sports history, with the firm’s tentacles extending across three continents through ownership of soccer clubs including Belgium’s Standard Liège, Germany’s Hertha Berlin, Italy’s Genoa, and Brazil’s Vasco da Gama, while simultaneously attempting to acquire England’s storied Everton Football Club for $685 million. The scheme’s sophistication involved using insurance policyholders’ money from affiliated company A-Cap to fund speculative investments, while simultaneously pledging the same collateral to multiple lenders in what investigators describe as “double-pledging” fraud. As federal prosecutors noted in the indictment, Wander “offered over $350 million assets as collateral to private lenders, fully aware that 777 Partners either did not possess the collateral or had already pledged it to other creditors”.
The Criminal Indictment: $500 Million Fraud Scheme Unraveled
Federal Charges and Prosecutorial Strategy
The 17-page federal indictment unsealed in Manhattan details a comprehensive pattern of fraud that prosecutors allege spans several years and involves multiple financial institutions. Josh Wander faces four felony counts: conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, and wire fraud—charges that collectively carry potential sentences of up to 20 years in prison per count. The indictment alleges that Wander engaged in systematic deception to “defraud lenders and investors” while using the proceeds to fund “investments in soccer teams and expenses linked to a financially struggling airline”.
The timing of the criminal charges is particularly significant, coming nearly 18 months after the first major civil fraud lawsuit was filed against the company by Leadenhall Capital Partners in May 2024. This progression from civil to criminal proceedings demonstrates the severity of the alleged misconduct and suggests that federal investigators have uncovered evidence of intentional criminal behavior rather than mere business failures. The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a parallel civil complaint on the same day, indicating coordinated enforcement action across multiple federal agencies.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, known for pursuing high-profile white-collar criminals, took the unusual step of personally handling this case, underscoring its significance within federal law enforcement priorities. The Manhattan federal court venue is strategically important, as it places the case within one of the most experienced and aggressive white-collar crime prosecutorial districts in the country. Wander surrendered to federal authorities on Thursday morning and was expected to appear in court later that day, though his attorney Jordan Estes dismissed the charges as “a dispute dressed up as a criminal case”.
Scope and Methodology of the Alleged Fraud
The indictment reveals a sophisticated fraud scheme that involved the creation and submission of falsified financial documents to inflate 777 Partners’ apparent financial health and creditworthiness. Prosecutors allege that Wander fabricated balance sheets, income statements, and asset valuations to secure loans from multiple financial institutions while knowing that the underlying collateral either did not exist, was not owned by 777 Partners, or had already been pledged to other creditors. This “double-pledging” strategy allowed the firm to extract far more capital than its actual assets could support.
The alleged fraud extended beyond simple document falsification to encompass what prosecutors describe as systematic misappropriation of funds for unauthorized purposes. According to the indictment, loans obtained ostensibly for specific business purposes—such as purchasing structured settlement receivables—were instead diverted to fund “soccer teams and expenses linked to a financially struggling airline”. This pattern of misrepresentation and misappropriation suggests a conscious strategy to use each new funding source to prop up failing investments from previous rounds.
The international dimension of the fraud adds complexity to both the legal proceedings and the potential for victim recovery. With assets scattered across multiple jurisdictions—from Miami real estate to European soccer clubs to Australian airlines—federal prosecutors will need to coordinate with international authorities to trace and potentially recover fraudulently obtained assets. The FBI’s Economic Crimes Unit is reportedly working with European law enforcement agencies to map the full extent of 777 Partners’ global operations and identify additional evidence of criminal conduct.
The Double-Pledging Scandal: Leadenhall’s $600 Million Lawsuit
Leadenhall Capital Partners’ Fraud Allegations
The foundation for the criminal charges can be traced to the explosive civil lawsuit filed by London-based Leadenhall Capital Partners in May 2024, which accused 777 Partners of operating “a giant shell game at best, and an outright Ponzi scheme at worst”. Leadenhall’s 82-page complaint detailed how the investment management firm provided over $600 million in financing to 777 Partners entities through a borrowing base credit facility, only to discover that approximately $350 million of the pledged collateral either did not exist, was not controlled by 777 Partners, or had already been pledged to other lenders.
The discovery of the double-pledging scheme began with an anonymous tip received by Leadenhall in early 2023, alerting them that Wander had “either never owned or already pledged the assets that were supposed to be used to secure the loan to another lender”. This tip prompted Leadenhall to launch an internal investigation that revealed the staggering scope of the fraud. When third-party lender Credigy shared its list of assets pledged by 777 Partners, Leadenhall discovered that over 1,600 assets worth approximately $185 million had been “double-pledged” to both firms simultaneously.
Particularly damning were recorded conversations between Leadenhall representatives and Josh Wander, in which he acknowledged the double-pledging as “embarrassing” and a “mistake” while admitting that 777 Partners had breached their agreements. In these conversations, Wander attempted to characterize the massive fraud as merely “the result of 777 Partners and the Borrowers’ failure to recognize, upon allocating certain assets to Leadenhall, that those assets had already been allocated”. However, the systematic nature of the double-pledging across multiple transactions suggests intentional deception rather than administrative oversight.
The A-Cap Connection and Insurance Fraud
Central to the 777 Partners fraud scheme was its relationship with Advantage Capital Holdings (A-Cap), a U.S. financial services company that effectively served as the firm’s primary funding source. A-Cap, led by Chairman and CEO Kenneth King, controlled insurance companies that held $1.5 billion in customer funds—money that was supposed to be invested conservatively to ensure the ability to pay future claims. Instead, approximately $1.5 billion of these insurance policyholder funds were funneled into risky investments through 777 Partners, including $112 million specifically used to acquire Italian, French, and Spanish soccer teams.
The relationship between A-Cap and 777 Partners was so intertwined that A-Cap effectively controlled 777 Partners’ operations through funding arrangements and board representation. According to court documents, A-Cap had to approve “every material decision that 777 Partners makes,” meaning that Kenneth King and A-Cap were intimately aware of the double-pledging scheme before it was discovered by external lenders. Utah insurance regulators have since filed a petition accusing King of being “the secret mastermind behind 777 Partners” and of engaging in “years-long history of self-dealing, conflicts of interest, and obfuscation”.
The insurance fraud dimension adds another layer of criminal liability to the 777 Partners collapse, as using policyholder funds for speculative investments violates fundamental insurance regulations designed to protect consumers. Utah’s petition reveals that A-Cap’s insurance companies provided $219 million directly to Nutmeg Acquisition, the 777 Partners subsidiary that holds all of the firm’s football clubs, through a loan that was “amended more than 12 times” and grew from $23 million to $350 million. Both 777 Partners and A-Cap remain under investigation by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission over potential violations of money laundering laws.
The Soccer Empire Collapses: Impact on Global Football
Everton Football Club: The Failed £685 Million Takeover
777 Partners’ most ambitious and ultimately most damaging venture was its attempted £685 million acquisition of Everton Football Club, one of England’s founding Premier League members. The takeover agreement, signed in September 2023, was meant to provide a lifeline for the financially struggling Merseyside club, which had been hit with multiple points deductions for breaching Premier League financial rules. However, the deal collapsed in May 2024 when 777 Partners failed to receive regulatory approval from Premier League authorities, who had grown increasingly concerned about the firm’s financial stability and sources of funding.
During the lengthy takeover process, 777 Partners provided approximately £200 million in loans to keep Everton financially afloat, money that was later revealed to have come directly from A-Cap’s insurance policyholders. These loans, originally positioned as bridge financing to complete the acquisition, became a major liability for Everton when 777 Partners collapsed, as the club remained responsible for repaying funds that may now be considered “proceeds of crime” if criminal charges result in convictions. The collapse of the takeover left Everton in a precarious financial position, eventually leading to a subsequent failed takeover attempt by the Friedkin Group, who cited 777 Partners’ legal issues as making the deal “too risky”.
The impact on Everton extends beyond immediate financial concerns to encompass reputational damage and fan disillusionment. The Everton FC Shareholders’ Association issued public statements calling on the club’s board to “recognize that 777 Partners are not at this time fit-and-proper prospective owners,” while fans organized protests against the prolonged uncertainty. The failed takeover has left Everton without a clear ownership structure and facing ongoing financial pressures that threaten the club’s long-term viability, despite securing Premier League survival for another season.
Standard Liège: Asset Seizures and Fan Protests
Standard Liège, the Belgian soccer club acquired by 777 Partners in March 2022 for €55 million, became ground zero for the most visible manifestations of the firm’s financial collapse. The club, a 10-time Belgian champion, experienced a cascade of problems including delayed player wages, transfer bans, and ultimately asset seizures by Belgian courts. In May 2024, a Belgian court authorized the seizure of all 777 Partners assets in the country, including Standard’s accounts, shares, and the stadium holding company, after former owner Bruno Venanzi claimed 777 had defaulted on payments.
The deteriorating situation culminated in dramatic fan protests that prevented Standard from playing league matches. In one particularly striking incident, protesting fans blocked the team bus from reaching the stadium, forcing the cancellation of a match against Westerlo as “attempts at negotiations with these protesters failed to yield a resolution to lift the obstruction”. These protests reflected growing fan anger over 777 Partners’ failure to invest adequately in the club while simultaneously creating financial instability through their broader legal troubles.
Standard Liège was eventually sold by A-Cap in June 2025 to a consortium led by the club’s CEO Giacomo Angelini, representing a partial resolution to the ownership crisis. The sale came after the club had reported debts of €60 million and required a strategic capital increase of €28.7 million to stabilize operations. However, the damage to the club’s competitive position and fan relationships may take years to repair, with Standard finishing in the lower half of the Belgian Pro League standings during the ownership crisis.
German and Italian Clubs: Varying Degrees of Impact
Hertha Berlin, the German second-division club in which 777 Partners acquired a 64.7% stake in March 2023, has experienced a more stable transition despite the parent company’s collapse. The club structure, which maintains compliance with Germany’s 50+1 rule by preserving member voting rights, provided some insulation from 777 Partners’ financial problems. However, 777 Partners’ promised €100 million investment was only partially delivered, with approximately €75 million provided before the firm’s insolvency.
The situation in Berlin remains tenuous, with opposition clubs protesting against 777 Partners’ involvement in German football. St. Pauli displayed a banner during their match against Osnabrück demanding that 777 be “kicked out of football,” reflecting broader concern within German football about the firm’s impact on competitive integrity. While Hertha Berlin has managed to avoid relegation to the third division and maintained basic operations, the uncertainty surrounding ownership has limited the club’s ability to invest in players and infrastructure.
Genoa, Italy’s oldest soccer club acquired by 777 Partners in 2022, has faced significant challenges with tax authorities while achieving some on-field success. The club was relegated from Serie A during 777’s first season but earned promotion back to the top tier after just one season in Serie B, despite receiving a points deduction for failing to settle tax obligations. Genoa’s chief executive was fined €5,000 by the Italian soccer federation for tax payment failures, highlighting the ongoing financial irregularities that have plagued 777 Partners’ European operations.
Aviation Investments: Bonza’s Grounding and Industry Impact
The Australian Airline Collapse
777 Partners’ aviation investments proved equally disastrous, with Australian budget airline Bonza entering voluntary administration in May 2024 after just over a year of operations. Bonza, positioned as Australia’s first new domestic airline in 15 years, was grounded abruptly when administrators took control of the company, leaving passengers stranded and ticket holders without refunds. The airline’s collapse came at a particularly sensitive time for 777 Partners, as it coincided with increasing scrutiny from the Premier League over the Everton takeover and growing investor concern about the firm’s financial stability.
The circumstances surrounding Bonza’s collapse raised additional questions about 777 Partners’ business practices and financial management. Aviation industry analysts noted that the airline’s business model, focusing on regional routes with Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, required substantial ongoing capital investment that 777 Partners was apparently unable to provide. The timing of the collapse, just months after 777 Partners faced its first major fraud lawsuit, suggested that the firm was prioritizing cash preservation over maintaining operations in its portfolio companies.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) conducted an investigation into Bonza’s directors but ultimately decided not to pursue enforcement action, though this decision came after extensive review of the company’s financial management. However, 777 Partners continued to face legal challenges related to Bonza, including being held in contempt by a Delaware court for failing to pay approximately $600,000 in legal fees to former CFO Damien Alfalla, despite paying $6.1 million to other law firms during the same period.
Canadian Operations and Flair Airlines
777 Partners’ Canadian aviation investment, Flair Airlines, managed to distance itself from the failing parent company before complete collapse occurred. In May 2024, Flair announced that other backers would take up the shares previously owned by 777 Partners, effectively buying out the troubled investment firm’s position. This transaction allowed Flair to continue operations without the reputational and financial baggage associated with 777 Partners’ mounting legal troubles.
The successful exit from Flair highlighted the speed with which 777 Partners’ portfolio companies moved to sever ties once the fraud allegations became public. Unlike the soccer clubs, which were often too financially dependent on 777 Partners to easily break away, aviation investments like Flair had alternative funding sources that enabled clean exits. This pattern suggests that 777 Partners may have used its soccer investments as more permanent vehicles for deploying fraudulently obtained capital, while treating aviation investments as shorter-term, more liquid positions.
Structured Settlements and Financial Services Fraud
SuttonPark Capital and the Insurance Connection
At the heart of 777 Partners’ business model was SuttonPark Capital, the structured settlements company co-founded by Steven Pasko that served as both a legitimate business operation and a vehicle for financial fraud. Structured settlements involve purchasing future legal settlement payments from individuals who need immediate cash rather than waiting for installment payments over time. This business, while legitimate in principle, became the foundation for elaborate financial engineering that enabled 777 Partners’ acquisition spree.
The fraud scheme involved using SuttonPark’s structured settlement receivables as collateral for multiple loans while misrepresenting their ownership, value, and availability. In one particularly egregious example detailed in ING Capital’s lawsuit, 777 Partners borrowed $50 million against a portfolio of structured settlement receivables that were allegedly “neither owned by SuttonPark nor transferred” to the borrowing entity. This pattern of pledging assets that were either non-existent or already committed to other lenders appears to have been systematic across 777 Partners’ various funding arrangements.
The structured settlements business also provided a veneer of legitimacy that helped 777 Partners attract institutional investors and lenders who might have been more skeptical of a pure sports investment vehicle. Financial institutions could point to SuttonPark’s track record and the seemingly stable nature of structured settlement cash flows as justification for extending credit to 777 Partners entities. However, this legitimacy was largely illusory, as the actual structured settlement assets were being manipulated and misrepresented to support far more speculative investments in soccer clubs and airlines.
The Insurance Regulatory Crisis
The involvement of A-Cap’s insurance companies in funding 777 Partners’ operations has triggered regulatory investigations across multiple U.S. states, with Utah leading the most aggressive enforcement action. Utah’s insurance commissioner has filed a petition seeking to place A-Cap’s insurance companies under state control, arguing that Kenneth King used policyholder funds for speculative investments while personally benefiting through management fees and equity stakes. The petition reveals that King took a $3 million bonus while several of his investments were failing, and that A-Cap employees “directly and improperly benefited from those investments” through various compensation arrangements.
The regulatory action in Utah is expected to be followed by similar proceedings in South Carolina and potentially other states where A-Cap operates insurance companies. If successful, these regulatory takeovers would give state insurance commissioners control over the soccer clubs and other assets purchased with policyholder funds, though their primary objective would be asset recovery rather than continued operation. This scenario could result in the forced sale of remaining soccer clubs and other investments to compensate defrauded policyholders.
The insurance fraud dimension of the 777 Partners case highlights broader regulatory concerns about private equity involvement in the insurance industry. The use of insurance company assets to fund speculative investments violates fundamental principles of insurance regulation, which require companies to maintain conservative investment portfolios to ensure their ability to pay claims. The 777 Partners case may prompt regulators to impose stricter oversight on insurance companies with private equity ownership or complex corporate structures that could facilitate similar schemes.
Legal Ramifications and Victim Impact
Multiple Jurisdictions and Coordination Challenges
The international scope of 777 Partners’ operations has created complex jurisdictional challenges for both prosecutors and victims seeking recovery. With criminal charges filed in New York, civil lawsuits pending in multiple U.S. federal courts, asset seizures in Belgium, regulatory actions across several U.S. states, and investigations by European authorities, coordinating legal action requires unprecedented international cooperation. The FBI has reportedly established working relationships with Belgian, German, Italian, and Australian law enforcement agencies to trace assets and gather evidence across multiple countries.
The complexity of the legal proceedings has created opportunities for asset dissipation and forum shopping by defendants seeking to minimize liability. Court documents reveal that 777 Partners has moved assets between jurisdictions and corporate entities in ways that may frustrate victim recovery efforts. For example, the transfer of UK-based company Trans Atlantic Lifetime Mortgages from 777 Partners to Kenneth King’s A-Cap for a nominal “cash advance” of $2-3 million, despite the company’s estimated value of $250-300 million, represents the type of insider dealing that may permanently reduce recoverable assets.
Victims face the additional challenge of competing with each other for recovery from limited remaining assets. With creditor claims potentially exceeding $2 billion against companies that may have far less in recoverable assets, many victims may receive only cents on the dollar even if prosecutions are successful. Priority disputes between secured and unsecured creditors, complicated by questions about which assets were legitimately pledged versus fraudulently double-pledged, may take years to resolve through bankruptcy proceedings.
Impact on Institutional and Individual Victims
The victim impact of the 777 Partners fraud extends far beyond financial losses to encompass institutional credibility damage and individual hardship for thousands of people. Insurance policyholders who trusted A-Cap with their life insurance premiums and annuity payments now face the possibility that their benefits may be reduced or delayed while regulators work to recover misappropriated funds. Many of these policyholders are retirees or others who depend on insurance payouts for basic living expenses and cannot easily replace lost benefits.
Institutional victims include some of the most sophisticated financial services firms in the world, raising questions about due diligence practices in the structured finance industry. Leadenhall Capital Partners, despite being a specialist investment manager with extensive experience in structured settlements and insurance-linked securities, was apparently deceived by 777 Partners’ sophisticated fraud scheme. This suggests that the fraud involved not just document falsification but also complex financial engineering designed to fool experienced institutional investors.
The soccer clubs and their fans represent a unique category of victims whose losses extend beyond financial harm to encompass emotional and cultural damage. For supporters of clubs like Standard Liège and Everton, the ownership crisis has created years of uncertainty and declining performance that cannot be easily quantified in monetary terms. The long-term competitive damage to these clubs may persist even after ownership issues are resolved, as lost transfer windows and infrastructure investment cannot be easily recovered.
Regulatory and Industry Implications
Sports Investment Oversight
The 777 Partners collapse has exposed significant gaps in regulatory oversight of sports investment, particularly regarding cross-border ownership of professional teams. European soccer authorities, including UEFA and individual national leagues, are reviewing their “fit and proper persons” tests for ownership approval after allowing 777 Partners to acquire multiple clubs despite mounting evidence of financial irregularities. The Premier League’s failure to complete its review of the Everton takeover for over eight months, despite multiple red flags, has raised questions about the effectiveness of current due diligence processes.
The case has also highlighted the need for better coordination between sports regulators and financial authorities, as much of the evidence of 777 Partners’ fraud was available to financial regulators before sports authorities began their reviews. Belgium’s decision to seize Standard Liège assets came only after extensive media reporting and civil litigation had already exposed the firm’s problems, suggesting that sports authorities may need to develop more proactive monitoring systems. German football authorities have indicated they may strengthen oversight of foreign investment in response to the 777 Partners case.
Industry observers expect the case to prompt new regulations requiring greater financial transparency from sports investors, particularly those using complex corporate structures or insurance company funding. The European Club Association, of which Josh Wander was briefly a board member, is reviewing its membership criteria and oversight procedures. These changes may make legitimate sports investment more expensive and time-consuming, but are seen as necessary to prevent similar fraud schemes.
Insurance Industry Reforms
The misuse of insurance company assets in the 777 Partners scheme is likely to prompt regulatory reforms aimed at preventing similar incidents. State insurance commissioners are reviewing oversight procedures for companies with complex ownership structures or private equity backing, with particular attention to investment policies and related-party transactions. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has indicated it may develop new model regulations specifically addressing the use of policyholder funds for speculative investments.
The case has also raised questions about the adequacy of current capital requirements and investment restrictions for insurance companies. While traditional regulations limit insurers’ exposure to high-risk investments, the 777 Partners scheme involved moving funds through multiple corporate entities in ways that may have circumvented these restrictions. Regulators are considering whether current rules adequately address the risks posed by complex corporate structures and related-party transactions.
International coordination among insurance regulators may also improve as a result of the case, as A-Cap’s operations spanned multiple U.S. states and involved international investments that created cross-border regulatory challenges. The involvement of European soccer clubs in a U.S. insurance fraud scheme demonstrates the need for better information sharing between regulatory authorities in different countries. Industry experts expect this case to serve as a catalyst for enhanced international cooperation in insurance regulation.
Conclusion: The Unraveling of a Global Financial Conspiracy
The criminal charges against Josh Wander represent the culmination of one of the most complex and far-reaching financial fraud schemes in modern history, encompassing sports entertainment, aviation, insurance, and structured finance across multiple continents. The alleged $500 million fraud not only destroyed 777 Partners as a business entity but also inflicted massive collateral damage on soccer clubs, airlines, insurance policyholders, and institutional investors who trusted the firm with billions of dollars in assets. The sophistication of the scheme, involving double-pledged collateral, fabricated financial documents, and the systematic misuse of insurance company funds, demonstrates the vulnerabilities in current regulatory frameworks when confronted with determined financial criminals.
The international dimension of the case highlights the challenges facing law enforcement and regulators in an era of global finance and cross-border investment. The coordination required between U.S. federal prosecutors, European sports authorities, and multiple state insurance commissioners illustrates both the complexity of modern financial crime and the need for enhanced international cooperation in regulation and enforcement. The success or failure of efforts to recover assets and compensate victims will likely influence how similar cases are handled in the future and may prompt significant changes in how cross-border investments are regulated and monitored.
For the sports industry, the 777 Partners collapse serves as a cautionary tale about the risks of allowing complex, opaque investment structures to acquire beloved cultural institutions like professional soccer clubs. The emotional and competitive damage inflicted on clubs like Everton, Standard Liège, and others extends far beyond mere financial loss to encompass the destruction of fan trust and institutional legacy that took decades to build. The case will likely prompt sports authorities worldwide to strengthen their oversight of foreign investment and require greater transparency from potential owners, potentially making legitimate investment more difficult but hopefully preventing similar disasters.
Looking ahead, the resolution of the 777 Partners case will test the effectiveness of international cooperation in financial crime prosecution and victim recovery. With thousands of insurance policyholders, multiple institutional investors, and numerous sports organizations affected by the alleged fraud, the stakes extend far beyond the criminal fate of Josh Wander to encompass fundamental questions about financial regulation, sports governance, and international cooperation in law enforcement. The case serves as a stark reminder that in an interconnected global economy, financial fraud can have devastating consequences that ripple across industries, borders, and communities in ways that may take years to fully understand and repair.
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