Josh Wander, the cofounder of 777 Partners, admitted to fraud in connection with what federal prosecutors said was a scheme to bilk lenders and investors out of at least $500 million before the firm collapsed.

Wander, who was set to go on trial next week in New York, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and securities fraud before US District Judge J. Paul Oetken as part of an agreement with prosecutors that includes forfeiting at least $500 million. Wander, 45, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1 in Manhattan. Each count carries a maximum of 20 years behind bars.

The admission comes three years after the Bermuda Monetary Authority intervened at 777 Re – a reinsurer whose ultimate backer was 777 Partners - over what it described as significant concerns about the reinsurer’s corporate governance, risk management and decision-making.

The BMA subsequently found that 777 Re was acting contrary to the prudent person principle in relation to investments in affiliated assets and had failed to meet its enhanced capital requirements after its parent failed to make contractual capital contributions.

The regulator restricted 777 Re from writing new business and ordered it to reduce its exposure to affiliated investments through asset sales and restructuring. The reinsurer ceased conducting insurance business in May 2024 and its Bermuda registration was cancelled four months later.

Wander told the judge last Thursday that in 2021 and 2022 a company affiliated with 777 Partners submitted reports to lenders that overstated collateral, and that collateral issues weren't disclosed in materials sent to investors.

"At the time that I did these things I knew what I was doing was wrong and I am deeply sorry for my conduct," Wander said. His lawyer, Jordan Estes, declined to comment following the plea.

Miami-based 777 Partners fell apart in 2024 after its attempt to buy Everton, the English Premier League football club, put a spotlight on the firm and allegations of fraud.

"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," Manhattan US Attorney Jamie McDonald said in a statement. "He then put those funds to uses that his lenders never permitted, including footing the bill for 777’s collection of professional soccer teams."

Wander co-founded 777 Partners with Steven Pasko in May 2015. The firm's original goal was underwriting and financing structured settlements, where claimants resolve personal injury claims in exchange for a series of payouts. The firm financed the deals using credit facilities with private lenders negotiated by Wander. It eventually became one of the largest buyers of such products on the secondary market through its SuttonPark Capital unit.

Wander had been relatively unknown outside Miami until 2018, when he started using capital from the structured settlement business to expand into other businesses, including streaming platforms, a budget airline and a film studio. He also created a portfolio of ownership interests in football clubs around the world, including Vasco da Gama in Brazil, Italy's Genoa Cricket and Football Club and German club Hertha BSC Berlin.

When those funds dried up, according to the government, Wander directed restricted funds from lenders to cover shortfalls in cash and collateral, pledged more than $350 million in assets that had already been allocated to other lenders, and ordered employees to alter bank statements to show the firm had millions of dollars of cash on hand that it didn't possess.

Prosecutors said Wander then solicited more than $100 million in outside investments through the sale of cumulative preferred equity membership interests in 2021 and 2022 as the firm faced massive liquidity issues.

But 777 Partners was put under the microscope when it agreed to buy Everton in 2023.

The Premier League said in 2024 in a letter to interested parties that it was "minded to accept" 777 Partners' bid for Everton FC if the Miami-based investment group met a series of conditions for the sale. Wander had become a significant player in European football, and in September 2023 was elected to the board of the European Club Association, a powerful lobby group.

Then, in 2024, lenders Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP and Leadenhall Life Insurance Linked Investments Fund Plc accused 777 Partners of fraud, alleging in a lawsuit that it had borrowed against $350 million of assets that it didn't own, didn't exist or were already promised to someone else.

Wander resigned from 777 Partners shortly afterward and was charged by federal prosecutors in October 2025. The firm, which has been overseen by independent restructuring advisers since Wander's departure, filed for bankruptcy in August, just weeks after creditors sought to liquidate what's left of the company. The former chief financial officer, Damien Alfalla, had already pleaded guilty in the case and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Earlier this year, Wander asked US President Donald Trump for a pardon. He still faces a civil lawsuit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Pasko, who was not accused of criminal wrongdoing, and Alfalla had already agreed to bars from the securities industry to resolve claims against them filed by the SEC. Pasko didn't admit or deny the allegations.

The guilty plea came a day after a judge rejected Wander's bid to dismiss a witness-tampering charge related to allegations that he sent a photo of himself with his own young child to a 777 Partners analyst in an effort to discourage the former employee from testifying.