An Orange County resident and co-founder of the company formerly known as Aspiration Partners Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to charges of wire fraud in connection with a scheme that defrauded investors and lenders out of more than $248 million.
Joseph Neal Sanberg, 46, from Orange, California, faces two counts of wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. He is expected to formally enter his guilty plea in the coming weeks.
According to court documents, Sanberg used his position at Aspiration Partners as well as his stock holdings to carry out fraudulent activities between 2020 and 2025. Alongside board member Ibrahim AlHusseini, Sanberg obtained $145 million in loans by pledging shares of Aspiration stock and falsifying financial statements to inflate assets. The documents state that they altered AlHusseini’s bank and brokerage records by tens of millions of dollars to secure these loans.
Sanberg also concealed the true source of certain revenue recognized by Aspiration from its investors. He recruited companies and individuals to sign letters of intent for tree planting services but used entities under his control to make payments appear as if they came from customers rather than himself. Employees were instructed not to contact these customers, further hiding the scheme.
Between March 2021 and November 2022, Aspiration recorded revenue from these arrangements without disclosing that Sanberg was behind the payments. This led to inaccurate financial statements showing inflated revenue figures while Sanberg continued soliciting investments into 2025.
Court filings indicate that Sanberg provided fraudulent materials about Aspiration’s finances—including a fabricated letter claiming $250 million in available cash when less than $1 million was actually available—to obtain additional loans and investments.
Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli commented: “This so-called ‘anti-poverty’ activist has admitted to being nothing more than a self-serving fraudster, by seeking to enrich himself by defrauding lenders and investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “I commend our law enforcement partners for their efforts in this case, and I urge the investing public to use caution and beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
“For years, Joseph Sanberg used his position at Aspiration to deceive investors and lenders for his own benefit, causing his victims over $248 million in losses,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division is committed to pursuing, charging, and convicting fraudsters like Sanberg, who cause significant harm to their victims and undermine our financial institutions.”
“The defendant didn’t just bend the truth, he built a business on a lie to boost the company’s value and line his own pockets,” said Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Criminal Investigations Group. “The Postal Inspection Service will go after this kind of calculated deception. No matter who you are, you will be brought to justice.”
“This is a case about greed and abuse of trust,” said Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “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. The FBI will continue to work with our partners to ensure this kind of malicious behavior is investigated and stopped.”
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are leading investigations into this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Nisha Chandran (Major Frauds Section) and Jenna Williams (Transnational Organized Crime Section), along with Justice Department Trial Attorneys Theodore Kneller and Adam L.D. Stempel from the Fraud Section are prosecuting.
Individuals who believe they may be victims can contact authorities through resources listed at www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-vns/victim-rights-derechos-de-las-v-ctimas or call toll-free at (888) 549-3945.
