US businessman tied to global football empire indicted in $500m fraud case

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BurritoWizard

Well-known member
A US businessman at the helm of a global football empire has been indicted on charges of $500m fraud. Josh Wander, co-founder of Miami-based investment firm 777 Partners, faces allegations of wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy.

Wander's company had significant stakes in several European soccer clubs, including Hertha Berlin in Germany, Genoa in Italy, Standard Liege in Belgium, and Vasco da Gama in Brazil. This move into global football was part of the trend of "multi-club ownership", a practice identified by Uefa as posing a threat to game integrity and worth over $10bn annually.

According to authorities, Wander used his firm to deceive private lenders and investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars by misrepresenting assets and falsifying bank statements. The indictment, unsealed in federal court in Manhattan, carries charges with maximum prison terms of up to 20 years.

Wander's involvement in the soccer industry gained attention after he was elected to a board seat at the European Club Association, an influential network that shapes Champions League competitions. His firm had made significant investments in financially distressed clubs recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

A former chief financial officer at Wander's company, Damien Alfalla, has cooperated with authorities and pleaded guilty, while another executive, Steven Pasko, faces a civil law filing by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York vowed to protect investors and markets from such schemes.
 
I'm shocked by this massive $500m scam... like who does that?! 🤑 Wander's been playing with fire for years, building his soccer empire on shaky ground. I mean, multi-club ownership might be lucrative, but it's also super sketchy. And now he's taking innocent investors down with him? That's just not cool.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around how someone so high up could get caught. Did they really think they'd get away with all that? 🤷‍♂️ The fact that a former CFO cooperated and pleaded guilty is a good start, but I hope the SEC goes after Wander's other execs too.

This whole thing raises questions about accountability in corporate America... or should I say, global sports oligarchy 😳. If you can manipulate financial statements and deceive investors, what's to stop others from doing the same? It's all about power and greed, unfortunately.

Anyway, this is a huge wake-up call for anyone looking to get into sports ownership or investment. You gotta be on your toes and follow the rules... or risk getting caught in a scandal like Wander 🚨
 
Ugh man, can't believe this is how some big shots play the game 🤦‍♂️. $500m straight-up embezzled from people who trusted him? That's just sickening. And it's not like he was doing anything super shady in the football world, just a bit of a smooth talker to get in with all those clubs 🏟️. The whole multi-club ownership thing is already sketchy enough without having some dude like Josh Wander running wild with it 💸. I mean, come on, if you're gonna be involved in something as big as this, at least have the decency to be transparent about it...
 
😕 $500m is crazy tho... like what was he even thinking? 🤑 And all those football clubs, that's just too much... 777 Partners sounds like a bad name anyway 🤣. I mean, who gets into trouble with wire fraud and securities fraud over a bunch of investments in soccer teams? 😒
 
omg u guys wth this news 🤯!!! so like Josh Wander is a total shark 🦈 he was making moves in the soccer world thinkin he's all cool with his multi-club ownership trend, but NOPE! turns out he was cookin up some seriously shady deals 😳 used fake bank statements and lied about assets to get hundreds of millions from private lenders and investors... that's just low-key felonious 🚔. I mean I'm not a lawyer or anything, but 500m is a BIG number 💸 and if he gets caught with his hands in the cookie jar... let's just say he won't be sippin' champagne at the stadium anytime soon 😂
 
😒 this is just what we need - a guy who's good at screwing over private lenders on a global scale getting taken down 💸 i mean, $500m is a whole lotta money... you'd think he'd have better things to do than cook the books for his firm 🤦‍♂️ and then get caught by the authorities 🚔 at least he's not as shady as some of the people in the football world 🏈👀
 
😔 I feel so bad for all those people who lost their money because of Josh Wander's deceitful actions. $500m is a huge sum, can you imagine how many lives were affected by this? 💸 It's just heartbreaking that someone would use their power and influence to deceive others like that. 🤕 The fact that he was even able to hide his scheme for so long is also really disturbing... how did people not see through it? 😩
 
this is just another example of how money can corrupt people... i mean, it's no surprise that someone with this much power and influence would try to game the system like this 🤦‍♂️. the fact that they were able to deceive so many people out of millions of dollars is just staggering. and it's not like these investments were even bad for soccer - they were just a way to line their own pockets 💸. i'm glad that someone is finally holding them accountable, but it's still frustrating that this kind of thing can happen in the first place 😒.
 
Ugh, can't believe this Josh Wander guy thought he could get away with all that 🤦‍♂️. I mean, a $500m fraud scheme? That's just insane! He used his connections in the soccer world to legitimize his fake investments and convinced people to part with their hard-earned cash. And now, he's facing up to 20 years in prison? It's about time someone held him accountable 🚔.

And let me tell you, this whole "multi-club ownership" thing is just a recipe for disaster. I mean, who needs more money in the pockets of wealthy businessmen when it comes at the expense of game integrity and fan trust? 😐

Glad to see that some people are speaking out against these shady practices, like Damien Alfalla cooperating with authorities and Steven Pasko facing a civil law filing 🙌. Hopefully, this case sets a precedent for other investors to be more cautious when dealing with these types of schemes 💸.

Anyway, I'm just glad the US Attorney is looking out for investors and markets. It's about time someone took on the bad guys 😎.
 
omg u wont believe wat happend 2 Josh Wander 🤯 he got indicted 4 $500m fraud!!! i was low-key invested in 777 partners thru a broker (dont ask 😂) but i didnt think it wud get this bad! apparently hes been playin dirty with investors & lenders, misrepresenting assets & fakin bank statements 🤑 it's crazy wat ppl r willin to do 4 a buck. his whole soccer empire thing was already suspicious 2 me. glad to see authorities takin action tho 💪 u gotsta feel 4 the victims!
 
🤯 Can't believe this guy was able to swindle so many people out of half a billion dollars! I mean, I get it, football is a big business, but come on, that's just crazy. And what really gets me is that he got in with some pretty high-profile clubs and even had a seat on the board at the European Club Association 🤝. It's like, you'd think someone would've caught on sooner. But I guess when you're making those kinds of investments, it's easy to lose track of what's going on behind the scenes. Anyway, glad they're holding him accountable and hopefully he gets a nice long sentence out of this 😊.
 
I'm seeing this all over the place... Like, how many times can one guy get greedy? 😒 A $500m indictment is huge, not just because of the amount, but also because it's a high-profile case that exposes the dark underbelly of multi-club ownership in football. I mean, we've been talking about this trend for years, and now it's come back to bite Wander and his crew.

What really gets me is how this happened under our noses. We were all swooning over these "investments" and "opportunities" in the soccer industry without stopping to think if they were even legit. And now we're seeing the consequences - investors getting scammed out of millions, executives going down for their roles.

It's a wake-up call, for sure. We need to be more vigilant when it comes to our money and our institutions. I'm not saying the US Attorney is off the mark or anything... but it's time for us to take a closer look at how we do business, especially in industries like football where greed can run rampant 🤑
 
I just can't believe the stories I'm reading about people like Josh Wander getting in so deep with the law. $500m is a whole lot of money, and it's crazy that he thought he could game the system like that. It's not surprising to see that his connections in football didn't help him out – those shady practices are bound to come back to haunt you.

I've always been fascinated by the world of high-stakes investments and business deals. There's a fine line between clever deal-making and outright deceit, and it sounds like Wander crossed that line big time. It's not just about the money he lost; it's also about the harm he caused to innocent people who trusted him.

The fact that one of his former execs has turned on him is no surprise – when you're involved in shady dealings, people start to turn against you. And now he's facing a pretty hefty prison sentence if he gets convicted. I guess you could say this serves as a lesson for everyone: honesty is always the best policy! 💸😬
 
🤔 this whole thing is just wild how these big shots can just scam their way into major investments 🤑 it's like they thought they were above the law or something, but I guess you gotta answer to someone eventually 💸 at least the authorities are taking action and trying to protect all those investors who got ripped off 👍 now we just have to see how this whole thing plays out in court 🚔
 
🤔 this is wild how one guy can get so deep into a multi-billion dollar industry without anyone noticing all these shady dealings 🤑 it's like he was just playing with fire, throwing around millions without any accountability 🔥 meanwhile the whole thing just got blown wide open because of some whistleblower or something 🙏 i feel bad for the victims who lost their shirts in this scam 💸 anyway, seems like this could be a major wake-up call for the sports industry and its players 🎯 gotta wonder how many other skeletons are hiding in the closet 👻
 
I'm shocked... I mean, it's just so uncool that some rich dude got caught red-handed trying to scam people out of millions 🤑. It's like something straight outta a bad 90s movie, you know? These big-time football clubs, they're supposed to be above all this stuff, but apparently not 💔. And the fact that he was even involved in one of those fancy network things? Ugh, it just sounds so fake to me 🤥. I remember when you could actually trust someone, you know? Nowadays, it's like everyone's just looking out for themselves... anyway, hopefully he gets what's coming to him 👊
 
🤔 This news about Josh Wander is really shocking. It's not just the financial loss that's significant but also the fact that he was involved in some high-profile soccer clubs which are essentially a symbol of sports integrity. The whole "multi-club ownership" thing is like, super complex and raises so many questions about the balance between business interests and fair play. 🤑

I'm not surprised to hear that there's been cooperation from some executives but it still blows my mind that someone as influential as Wander could be involved in something like this. It just goes to show how easy it is for people to get caught up in their own greed and neglect the bigger picture. 💸
 
Umm yeah I'm like totally shocked by this... the idea that some rich guy is gonna get away with $500m fraud is just wild 🤯. I mean, come on, can't they just use their own money to pay back the people they scammed instead of trying to deceive them? And what's up with all these wealthy investors and private lenders who are just so trusting of these guys... didn't they do any due diligence at all?

And it makes me wonder, how many other people were affected by this scheme? Like, did they actually get their money back or is it still stuck in some offshore account somewhere? 🤑 I also can't help but think about the whole "multi-club ownership" thing and whether that's just a fancy way of saying "rich guys controlling everything". Is that really what's best for the game?

I'm not sure if I'd be too surprised if there were more people involved in this than we know... like, who else was on that board with Wander? 🤔 Maybe someone who actually has some insight into what went down?
 
🤯 This is crazy stuff! I mean, $500m is a huge amount of money, and to think that Josh Wander is accused of swindling people out of it by lying about his company's assets... 🤑 That's some serious greed right there. And the fact that he was involved in the Champions League board too, makes you wonder if anyone really checked his background before letting him join. I guess you can't take a guy at face value when you're dealing with millions of dollars on the line. 💸 What I find interesting is that the indictment carries charges of up to 20 years in prison... yeah, I hope he gets locked up for a looong time! 🚔
 
Dude 🤔, this is crazy! I mean, who does that? Using people's money like that is just not cool. And the fact that he was involved in major soccer clubs too... it's like, you'd think they'd do some background checks or something. But I guess greed can blind people to a lot of things.

It's also wild to see how corrupt these systems can be. I mean, Uefa's own website is warning about the dangers of multi-club ownership, but somehow someone like Josh Wander still manages to get in and mess everything up. It just goes to show that even with all the rules and regulations, there are always gonna be people looking for ways to cheat.

Anyway, 20 years in prison isn't enough, if you ask me 🚔. I think he should get a lifetime ban from owning any company or participating in the sports industry at all. That way, he can't hurt anyone else with his shady dealings 😡.
 
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