A Democrat donor who has heaped criticism on Elon Musk pleaded guilty to wire fraud as an alleged co-conspirator in an alleged woke investment fraud scheme, according to federal prosecutors in California.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on March 3 arrested Joseph Neal Sanberg, 45, a cofounder of Aspiration Partners Inc., which dubs itself a “climate-friendly banking alternative” on its website. The arrest stemmed from “a federal criminal complaint alleging that he conspired to defraud two investor funds of at least $145 million,” per a DOJ press release.
Musk critic Ibrahim Ameen AlHusseini, 51, whom the DOJ labeled as “Sanberg’s coconspirator,” was arrested in October and took a plea deal last month. AlHusseini, who founded the investment firm FullCycle, signed the agreement in February, and it was unsealed on the day of Sanberg’s arrest. Per the DOJ, citing the plea deal, AlHusseini received about $12.3 million in payments via the alleged scheme.
Aspiration Partners Inc. had notable celebrity backers like Leonardo DiCaprio, Cindy Crawford, and Robert Downey Jr, the New York Post reported.
The DOJ wrote in a release:
According to the complaint against Sanberg and AlHusseini’s plea agreement, Sanberg obtained $145 million in loans secured by AlHusseini, who Sanberg knew did not have sufficient financial assets to cover those loans if Sanberg defaulted. Sanberg hid this fact from investors, then defaulted on the loans, which resulted in at least a $145 million in losses.
Acting United States Attorney for the Central District of California, Joseph McNally, said authorities “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.”
“We will continue to ensure that markets and businesses receive an honest and level playing field in which to operate,” he added.
AlHusseini, whose sentencing is scheduled for September 29, is a major Democrat donor who has contributed to countless Democrat campaigns and organizations. In the 2024 cycle alone, he gave thousands of dollars each to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Cori Bush (D-MO), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show. The Daily Wire reports Democrats have received over $300,000 in contributions from him through the years.
Citing OpenSecrets, the Post reported that “Sanberg has contributed thousands of dollars to various Democrat-aligned causes over the years.”
Moreover, AlHusseini has a track record of criticizing Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and X, who is working on cutting federal waste through the Department of Government Efficiency in his role in President Donald Trump’s administration.
In December 2022, he went on CNBC’s TechCheck, where he trashed Musk, saying he was wounding Tesla’s brand.
“Tesla’s a brand, right? And that brand is being tarnished on the daily because of Musk’s behavior publicly on Twitter,” AlHusseini said.
“Now it is a confused brand where it is, you know, that brand is associated with a founder that attacked Fauci,” he went on to add. “[Musk], you know, promotes characters that are anti-semitic, and it … really has turned off a lot of the buyers.”
Last year, AlHusseini, who invested in Tesla early on, told CNBC’s Closing Bell he “unenthusiastically voted yes” in favor of Musk’s pay package.
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