Aspiration co-founder sentenced to 14 years in prison after wire fraud amid NBA investigation, Clippers scandal
Aspiration co-founder Joseph Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on Monday after he pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.
Sanberg was behind the now-defunct green banking company that is the focus of the NBA’s investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers and their deals with star Kawhi Leonard, something journalist Pablo Torre first reported on and later won a Pulitzer Prize for.
Prosecutors said that Sanberg defrauded investors and lenders out of $248 million by obtaining loans and falsifying bank statements. They were seeking a prison sentence of nearly 18 years, though Sanberg’s attorney argued he displayed “no malice, no ill will and no greed” while arguing he should avoid prison all together.
Judge Stephen V. Wilson said that Sanberg’s actions were “among the worst I’ve ever seen” on the bench, and that the case had “touched almost every badge of fraud,” according to ESPN. Wilson sentenced Sanberg to 14 years.
“I accept that I lost my moral compass and wrongly stepped over the line, and I’m very sorry,” Sanberg said in court. “I broke the law … I'm sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Aspiration’s ties to the Los Angeles Clippers
Aspiration was founded in 2013 as an environmentally conscious digital bank. While several notable celebrities and companies partnered with the company over the years, Aspiration signed a $300 million endorsement deal with the Clippers in 2021 and a $28 million deal with Leonard the following year.
In September, Torre reported that Ballmer and the Clippers used Aspiration as a way to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap and pay Leonard more money to sign with the team in free agency. The deal with Leonard was reported essentially as a no-show marketing agreement.
Ballmer, who said he invested $60 million of his own money into the company, repeatedly continued to donate to Aspiration even after the government started investigating the company for fraud, according to Torre’s reporting. Ballmer initially called Torre’s reporting “gossip.”
In April, Ballmer sent a letter to the judge overseeing Sanberg’s case detailing all the ways he said he was defrauded by both Sanberg and Aspiration. Ballmer described himself as a “clear and undisputed victim” here, and claimed he was targeted for his “reputation for integrity, and genuine passion for sustainability.”
Ballmer has acknowledged introducing Aspiration to Leonard, but he denied any knowledge of the $28 million endorsement deal. Leonard has also denied any wrongdoing.
The NBA announced in September that it was launching an investigation into Ballmer’s relationship with Aspiration. That is still ongoing, and it’s unclear when it will wrap up. NBA commissioner Adam Silver described the probe as “enormously complex” during the All-Star break in February.
