The cofounder of a green banking startup that drew celebrity backers like Steve Ballmer and Leonardo DiCaprio pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of wire fraud.
Joseph Sanberg, 46, entered the plea in Los Angeles federal court roughly six months after prosecutors accused him of participating in a scheme that they said defrauded investors out of $248 million.
Sanberg, an early investor in Blue Apron, faces up to 40 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for February 23, 2026.
His company, Aspiration Partners, offered environmentally focused financial services, including tree-planting services intended to help customers reduce their carbon footprints. In 2021, the company announced plans to go public through a SPAC deal that was expected to value it at $2.3 billion. The deal was called off in 2022.
The feds said Sanberg took steps to make Aspiration Partners look more financially successful than it was, including a letter from Aspiration’s audit committee that falsely suggested the company had $250 million in cash and cash equivalents. It actually had less than $1 million in ready cash.
Sanberg used these fraudulent financial materials to obtain millions of dollars in loans and investments, prosecutors said.
Sanberg is also being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said the fintech founder enlisted friends, business associates, and others to help him artificially boost the company’s financial prospects.
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The SEC’s civil suit claims he did this by having people sign “letters of intent” — or contracts saying they would pay Aspiration between $25,000 and $750,000 regularly for tree-planting and other environmental services. Sanberg told these customers that they wouldn’t have to pay for these services, the SEC said.
The government watchdog suggested Aspiration’s financial woes were taking a toll on Sanberg as far back as 2020 when he texted his cofounder and Aspiration’s CEO about his fears of a default.
“Figure out how to get me the money tomorrow or I’ll be in default,” he wrote. “It’s your turn to do what needs to be done. . . . But if you don’t get me the money tomorrow we are all f…ed.”
“This will give you a good taste of what I have to experience every day,” Sanberg wrote, adding: “I hate you and I hate this company and I don’t want to work anymore with you [ ]. You are so oblivious to what you’ve forced me to have to do. “
