777 Partners Co-Founder Josh Wander Charged with $500 Million Fraud | Everton Takeover Collapse

New York, USA – Josh Wander, the 44-year-old co-founder of the troubled investment firm 777 Partners, has been charged by Manhattan federal prosecutors with orchestrating a massive scheme to defraud lenders and investors out of more than $500 million (£372 million).

The charges allege that Wander inflated the financial condition of Miami-based 777 Partners by using fake financial documents and “pledging assets that his firm did not own,” according to U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.

The indictment describes the firm’s purported financial stability as an “illusion… that was a years-long house of cards,” a sentiment echoed by Special Agent in Charge Ricky J Patel.

Prosecutors claim that beginning in 2018, Wander began investing in “new sectors with less certain cash-flow profiles,” including airlines, streaming platforms, and professional sports teams like Sevilla FC and Genoa CFC. He allegedly did this while knowing the funds either did not exist or had already been pledged as collateral to other lenders, using deceit to conceal the firm’s shortfalls.

The high-profile charges come months after 777 Partners’ much-scrutinised attempt to acquire Premier League club Everton FC ultimately collapsed. The potential deal for 777 to buy the Toffees fell through in June 2024, paving the way for the Friedkin Group to complete its acquisition of the club from Farhad Moshiri in December of that year.

Wander, a resident of Miami, Florida, faces four counts in total: one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud (each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison), and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud (carrying a maximum sentence of five years).

In a statement, Wander’s lawyer, Jordan Estes, denied all allegations, calling the case “a business dispute dressed up as a criminal case.” Estes added that they “look forward to setting the record straight.”