The former heads of a Miami-based investment company, 777 Partners, that bankrolled failed Australian airline Bonza have been charged with wire and securities fraud.
Bonza, which went out of business in April 2024, had its base in Australia’s Sunshine Coast and connected underserved markets and regional airports. It operated flights for around 15 months before entering voluntary administration. All of Bonza’s scheduled flights were cancelled, planes seized and staff laid off.
A statement issued by the FBI’s New York office said 777 Partners cofounder Joshua Wander and former CFO Damien Alfalla cheated private lenders and investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Wander used his investment firm, 777 Partners, to cheat private lenders and investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars by pledging assets that his firm did not own, falsifying bank statements, and making other material misrepresentations about 777’s financial condition,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said.
“When financial firms lie to their lenders, they do not merely breach contracts. They undermine the integrity and stability of our credit markets and our financial system more broadly. America’s financial markets are a source of strength and the envy of the world.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge, Christopher G. Raia, said Wander and Alfalla, allegedly stole more than $500 million from his company’s lenders and investors through fabricated lies of success and doctored financial records.
“The defendants’ alleged deceit targeted the wallets of his trusting stakeholders to obfuscate the failing fiscal ventures of the business,” Raia said. “With our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, the FBI maintains its steadfast determination to disrupt any fraudulent scheme seeking to exploit victims before they’re left with millions in losses.”
The defendants, through 777 Partners, lied to lenders and investors, double-pledged collateral, and used restricted funds to bankroll risky acquisitions — putting nearly $500 million and the lifelines of structured-settlement beneficiaries at risk, HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel said.
“In actuality, the defendants put forth an illusion of stability that was a years-long house of cards. This alleged scheme was self-serving, siphoning funds meant for victims and leaving investors and lenders holding the bag.”
Prosecutors said 777 Partners’ original business model involved underwriting and financing structured legal settlements for personal injury victims and lawsuit beneficiaries. Starting in 2018, 777 Partners began investment proceeds from its structured settlements business into other ventures with “less certain cash-flow profiles,” including airlines, streaming services, and the professional soccer teams Sevilla FC and Genoa CFC and attempted to buy Liverpool-based Everton F.C.
777 Partners eventually overextended itself with these investments and acquisitions, the FBI said, and began pledging assets as collateral that it did not own.
Former Bonza CEO Tim Jordan is not accused of any wrongdoing. In addition to Bonza, 777 Partners invested in another low-cost carrier Flair, which launched in 2005, and is still operating, although it has faced occasional financial difficulties, including the seizure of four Flair airplanes.
