Ex-Bonza financier pleads guilty in $500m fraud case

According to the US Department of Justice, he will also surrender at least half a billion dollars in proceeds of crime.

“As he has now admitted, Josh Wander used his company, 777 Partners, to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from private creditors and investors,” said US Attorney Jamie McDonald.

“Wander double-pledged assets, pledged fictitious assets, lied about the financial condition of his company, and even falsified bank statements, all to gain access to his victims’ funds.

“He then put those funds to uses that his lenders never permitted, including footing the bill for 777’s collection of professional soccer teams.

“Whether perpetrated in the private or public markets, such brazen conduct undermines the integrity of our financial system and will not be tolerated.”

777 Partners was the parent company of Bonza, which was liquidated in 2024 after having its aircraft repossessed. ASIC confirmed in April last year it had informed Bonza’s Australian and US-based directors it would not pursue them over the downfall of the carrier.

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Following Bonza’s collapse, Australian directors Tim Jordan and Lidia Valenzuela, alongside the airline’s administrator and liquidator, Hall Chadwick, had accused 777 Partners of undercapitalising the low-cost carrier, leading to its demise.

In a press release, the DoJ said Wander had “orchestrated a multi-year scheme to defraud 777 Partners’ lenders and investors of more than $500,000,000”.

“777 Partners’ initial and primary business model was to underwrite and finance structured settlements. Over time, Wander began investing capital in new sectors, including airlines and professional sports teams,” the Department said.

“777 Partners lacked the funds to pay for these new acquisitions, and Wander directed that restricted funds from 777 Partners’ lenders in its structured settlement business be used to cover the firm’s acquisitions and expenses.

“To steal these funds from lenders, Wander pledged to his lenders hundreds of millions of dollars of structured settlement assets that 777 Partners had never purchased or had previously pledged to other lenders.

“To conceal the fraud, Wander directed employees to digitally alter bank account statements to reflect millions of dollars in cash on hand that the firm did not have.”

Additionally, between 2021 and 2022, Wander “raised more than $200 million in outside investments in 777 Partners through the sale of preferred equity interests in 777 Partners and an affiliated entity”, the DoJ said.

“Wander misrepresented the financial condition of the firm in soliciting these investments. In addition, in March 2022, Wander solicited a $20 million loan from a lender,” the statement read.

“Wander provided the lender with dozens of doctored bank account statements to conceal that Wander had misappropriated the funds, spending millions of dollars of options trades.

“By March 2023, Wander’s scheme began to unravel. One of the firm’s lenders confronted Wander about allegations of double-pledged assets, and Wander falsely claimed there had been an error caused by 777 Partners’ antiquated computer system.

“A few days later, Wander again falsely assured the lender, among other things, that the double-pledging had been inadvertent. In 2024, Wander resigned as CEO.”

777 Partners, which was last year held in contempt by a Delaware court over unpaid legal bills, had been declared bankrupt by a London court in October 2024.