Net joins forces with American Standard owner 777 Partners

The ex-owners of the Standard football club accuse the current American bosses of defaulting on their purchase and have gone to court. The case comes at a time when the net around 777 Partners is closing in the US.

The former owner of Standard, Bruno Venanzi, and the company that owned the Sclessin stadium are targeting the investment fund 777 Partners in court. The complainants are requesting the seizure of 777’s shares in the club and the stadium because the Americans have not fulfilled their promises for a payment in installments since the takeover in 2022. The procedure could ultimately lead to a forced sale of the ailing club.

The Belgian case comes shortly after a complaint that the British lender Leadenhall filed with a court in New York. Leadenhall, who gave loans to 777 and its two founders Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, calls 777 “frauds” and a “house of cards about to fall” in the court documents.

Leadenhall’s business is lending. This is possible at a reduced interest rate if the counterparty can provide assets as collateral. Through an anonymous tip and subsequent investigation, Leadenhall states that 777 had already pledged a large number of contributed assets to other parties. It was contractually clear that this was not allowed. Moreover, it sounds like 777 doesn’t even own what it pledged, which in reality is Kenneth King’s A-CAP.

A-CAP is active in life insurance, among other things. The 777 business is a more exotic variant. It approaches lottery winners or people who receive compensation after an accident to take over their monthly compensation in exchange for a one-off amount, of course at a significant discount. People usually make such disadvantageous deals because they are in dire need of cash in the short term.

Leadenhall’s accusation goes far. It alleges that A-CAP diverted more than $2 billion in premiums from Americans – often older people who bought life insurance – to 777 and Wander. They invested in risky investments such as budget airlines and especially football teams such as Standard, Genoa, Hertha Berlin and Vasco da Gama.

This also involves debt leverage. 777 didn’t just put the cash from premiums to work. It also multiplied its cash by pledging assets – life insurance premiums – for additional loans.

Wander’s business idea is to make a profit in football – and therefore also to repay the loans – through income from all kinds of ‘cross-sales’ to the fans: insurance and other financial products, even low-cost flights. The reality, Leadenhall suggests, is that Wander, and thus essentially the real ‘Wizard of Oz’ King, are taking over debt-laden clubs cheaply, and then trying to restructure the debt or ultimately simply stop paying creditors.

Leadenhall hints that 777 is a ‘ponzi scheme’, a pyramid scheme. Such a carousel can keep going as long as enough fresh money comes in to fill holes, but it comes to a standstill as soon as lenders like Leadenhall suspect fraud. Leadenhall notes that 777 shows up in 16 lawsuits, mostly revolving around unpaid debts. 777 remains silent in the US, but made it clear that it only uses A-CAP as a lender and that there are no further ties.

In the United Kingdom, 777 has been waiting for months for the approval of the authorities for the takeover of the Everton football club. It seems a foregone conclusion that approval will no longer be forthcoming. Standard recently received its license from us to play professional football next season. The approval came after a guarantee – a ‘letter of comfort’ – from the US.