Overview

• The Justice Department said Aug. 21 that Joseph Neal Sanberg was charged by criminal information and agreed to plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud tied to his role at Aspiration.
• Prosecutors say the scheme caused more than $248 million in losses to investors and lenders, with investigations led by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
• Between 2020 and 2021, Sanberg and board member Ibrahim AlHusseini obtained $145 million in loans by pledging Sanberg’s Aspiration stock and by falsifying AlHusseini’s bank and brokerage statements.
• From March 2021 through November 2022, Sanberg concealed that he funded payments recorded as customer revenue, inflating Aspiration’s reported results while continuing to solicit investment into 2025.
• Court filings detail the use of fraudulent materials, including a fabricated audit-committee letter claiming $250 million in cash when less than $1 million was available, and note that AlHusseini has already entered a plea and is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 29.