E. Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California
Joseph Neal Sanberg, co-founder and largest shareholder of Aspiration Partners, Inc., was arrested in Santa Ana, California. He faces allegations of conspiring to defraud two investor funds of at least $145 million. The arrest follows a federal criminal complaint.
Sanberg's alleged accomplice, Ibrahim Ameen AlHusseini, pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges for falsifying documents and information to assist Sanberg. According to AlHusseini's plea agreement, he received approximately $12.3 million from the scheme. His sentencing is scheduled for September 29, 2025.
Acting United States Attorney Joseph McNally stated, "Our prosecutors and law enforcement partners have worked methodically to secure a guilty plea from one of the main offenders in this case and have now charged another member of the conspiracy."
The complaint alleges that Sanberg obtained loans totaling $145 million secured by AlHusseini, who lacked sufficient financial assets to cover them if Sanberg defaulted. It is claimed that both parties concealed this fact from investors before Sanberg defaulted on the loans.
In January 2020, Sanberg negotiated a $55 million loan from Investor Fund A using 10.3 million shares of Aspiration Partners stock as collateral. To mitigate risk due to the illiquid nature of Aspiration Partners' stock, Investor Fund A required a buyer for these shares in case they could not be sold on the open market.
Sanberg recruited AlHusseini to enter into a put option agreement with Investor Fund A. This obligated AlHusseini to buy the shares if Sanberg defaulted. Despite knowing AlHusseini lacked sufficient assets for this obligation, they provided false documentation inflating his financial standing.
Investor Fund A extended the loan based on these misrepresentations. In November 2021, Sanberg refinanced with Investor Fund B for $145 million against the same stock collateral under similar fraudulent conditions involving another put option agreement with AlHusseini.
Sanberg defaulted on this loan twice—once in November 2022 and again in spring 2023—resulting in significant losses for Investor Fund B when AlHusseini failed to purchase the pledged shares as required by their agreement.
Both investment funds involved lent capital primarily to high-net-worth borrowers. The FBI and United States Postal Inspection Service are investigating the case.
If convicted, both Sanberg and AlHusseini face up to 20 years in prison each.
Assistant United States Attorneys Brett A. Sagel, Nisha Chandran, Jenna Williams from the Corporate and Securities Fraud Strike Force along with Theodore M. Kneller and Adam L.D. Stempel from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division are handling prosecution duties.
