Celebrity-backed climate change finance company is bankrupt after Democrat-linked co-founder arrested for $145M fraud scheme

A climate change finance company that was backed by big name celebrities has filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy follows the arrest of the company's co-founder for allegedly attempting to defraud investors of $145 million.

Aspiration Inc., now known as CTN Holdings Inc., is a company that originally started as a sustainability focused financial services firm.

Ibrahim Ameen AlHusseini – also a prolific donor to Democrat causes who served on Aspiration's board of directors — allegedly participated in the scheme to defraud investors.

Aspiration is a self-described "climate-friendly banking alternative that's good for your wallet and the planet."

"When it comes to climate change, your money is power," the Aspiration website reads. "You can feel good knowing that your deposits will not fund fossil fuel exploration or production. By moving money to Aspiration, you’re giving the climate a fighting chance."

Aspiration was reportedly backed by notable celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Drake, Robert Downey Jr., Orlando Bloom, Cindy Crawford, and billionaire Steve Ballmer.

The climate change banking company – which reached a peak valuation of $2.3 billion in 2021 – shifted to selling carbon credits to other businesses in 2023, which Forbes described as a "strange pivot."

Aspiration then brokered carbon credit deals with major corporations such as Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Ballmer's Los Angeles Clippers.

Aspiration was founded in 2013 by Andrei Cherny and Joe Sanberg – both heavily linked to the Democratic Party.

At age 21, Cherny became a speechwriter for former President Bill Clinton. Cherny is a former chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.

He previously lost the Democratic primary in Arizona for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 to Kyrsten Sinema. The Democrat also lost in 2024 when running in Arizona's 1st Congressional District election.

Meanwhile, Sanberg is a progressive anti-poverty advocate and a Democratic donor.

On March 3, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office of California's Central District announced that Sanberg had been arrested on a federal criminal complaint accusing him of conspiring to defraud two investor funds of at least $145 million.

Sanberg’s alleged co-conspirator, Ibrahim Ameen AlHusseini, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for falsifying documents and information to assist Sanberg.

Ibrahim Ameen AlHusseini – also a prolific donor to Democrat causes who served on Aspiration's board of directors — allegedly participated in the scheme to defraud investors.

"According to the complaint against Sanberg and AlHusseini’s plea agreement, Sanberg obtained $145 million in loans secured by AlHusseini, who Sanberg knew did not have sufficient financial assets to cover those loans if Sanberg defaulted," the statement read. "Sanberg hid this fact from investors, then defaulted on the loans, which resulted in at least a $145 million in losses."

Sanberg allegedly negotiated multimillion-dollar loans by pledging Aspiration stock as collateral.

Prosecutors said of AlHusseini, "At Sanberg’s direction, the defendant made untrue statements. Defendant and Sanberg knew that the falsified statements inflated the value of the assets in defendant’s accounts by tens of millions of dollars."

The U.S. Attorney's Office of California's Central District said Sanberg defaulted on a $145 million loan in November 2022 and again in the spring of 2023.

Sanberg has pleaded not guilty.

Sanberg’s lawyer, Marc Mukasey, stated, “Mr. Sanberg has pleaded not guilty to the charges. We will buckle down and defend him with vigor and zeal.”

If convicted, Sanberg faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Forbes reported, "The charges against Sanberg relate only to his personal conduct; CTN isn’t implicated, according to a court filing."

In a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, chief restructuring officer Miles Staglik said he doesn’t believe the accusations implicate CTN in any criminal activity. However, investors affiliated with Sanberg reportedly stopped providing funding to CTN in February 2025.

Staglik admitted that the criminal case has hurt the company's ability to raise capital to operate. CTN had trouble finding sufficient funding to keep the business afloat, according to bankruptcy filings.

Staglik "emphasized that current management and employees were unaware of the alleged misconduct and that the business itself is a victim," according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sanberg no longer holds any positions at CTN Holdings and is no longer involved in its operations.

On March 30, 2025, Aspiration, which had been rebranded as CTN Holdings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware. The company reportedly has approximately $170 million in debt.

Bloomberg reported, "CTN’s largest unsecured creditor is the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Clippers and Kia Forum, which are both owned by Steven Ballmer. Aspiration’s backers included Ballmer, whose Clippers and Kia Forum hold roughly $40 million in unsecured claims for 'contracted carbon credits' and 'carbon credit value,' according to the bankruptcy petition."

Ballmer is a "major funder of progressive-left groups," according to Influence Watch.

In addition to the potentially damning Sanberg allegations, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have reportedly been investigating Aspiration over its claims of "planting 35 million trees, raising questions about the validity of its environmental impact," according to Forbes.

ProPublica reported in 2021: "Aspiration’s signature marketing claim — about its tree-planting program — turns out to be overblown upon closer examination."

Cherny said in August 2021, "In the past year, the Aspiration community has planted over 35 million trees."

According to ProPublica, "The footnote for one of Aspiration’s two main tree programs presents a different picture than Cherny did: 'The advertised number of trees planted is the cumulative total of to-be planted trees ...' In other words, that 35 million figure included millions of trees that had not actually yet been planted."

The outlet also pointed out that Aspiration boasts that it has "5 million passionate members."

ProPublica noted, "But the fine print in an investor presentation prepared by the company explains that a 'member' is defined as anyone who has ever signed the terms and conditions in preparation for opening an Aspiration account — even if that person never actually opened the account or deposited a penny in it. Aspiration’s actual tally of active customer accounts was 592,148 as of June. That includes all checking, savings, credit card and investment accounts."

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