Washington, D.C. — Joseph Sanberg, who co-founded and previously served on the board of the fintech and sustainability company Aspiration Partners, faces charges for allegedly orchestrating a large-scale fraud scheme that resulted in losses exceeding $248 million for investors and lenders. The 46-year-old Sanberg, hailing from Orange, California, has consented to plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud.
Court documents reveal that between 2020 and 2025, Sanberg exploited his role at Aspiration to deceive various parties by altering financial records, fabricating documents, and hiding the actual sources of the company’s revenue.
“This so-called ‘anti-poverty’ activist has admitted to being nothing more than a self-serving fraudster,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “He defrauded lenders and investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Between 2020 and 2021, Sanberg—together with Aspiration board member Ibrahim AlHusseini—reportedly obtained $145 million in loans from two lenders by using Aspiration stock as collateral and creating false bank and brokerage statements. These forged documents exaggerated AlHusseini’s assets by tens of millions of dollars to meet the loan requirements.
Fictitious Revenue and Misleading Financials
Sanberg is also charged with artificially boosting Aspiration’s revenue to deceive investors. Starting in 2021, he orchestrated for companies he controlled to sign letters of intent for tree-planting services with Aspiration, agreeing to monthly payments that seemed like genuine business income. However, these payments were covertly financed by Sanberg himself.
From March 2021 to November 2022, Aspiration included this revenue in its financial reports without revealing the true source of the funds—making its financial health appear significantly better than it actually was. Sanberg then continued to seek investors through 2025, leveraging these misleading financial statements.
“He built a business on a lie to boost the company’s value and line his own pockets,” said Eric Shen, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Criminal Investigations Group.
Sanberg is also accused of submitting false financial documents, which included a forged letter from Aspiration’s audit committee asserting that the company had $250 million in cash, while in reality, it had less than $1 million on hand. These deceptive claims were utilized to obtain further loans and investments.
Guilty Plea and Penalties
Sanberg has consented to plead guilty to two charges of wire fraud, with each charge potentially resulting in a maximum of 20 years in prison. A federal district judge will determine the sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant factors.
“Today’s guilty plea is a direct result of the commitment by the FBI and our law enforcement partners to hold those accountable who set out to defraud victims and undermine our financial system,” said FBI Assistant Director Jose A. Perez.
