An American businessman whose firm invested in several European soccer clubs that struggled under its ownership has been indicted in New York on charges of financial wrongdoing in an alleged $500m fraud scheme.

Josh Wander was a co-founder of Miami-based 777 Partners that owned stakes in an Australian airline plus soccer clubs Hertha Berlin in Germany, Genoa in Italy, Standard Liege in Belgium and Vasco da Gama in Brazil.

The 777 story became a cautionary tale in the global soccer trend of “multi-club ownership” – investors taking stakes in several clubs in different countries. European soccer body Uefa has identified the trend as a threat to the integrity of games and the player trading industry worth more than $10bn each year.

“As alleged, 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,” Jay Clayton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in an FBI statement Thursday.

The indictment charging Wander with wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit those crimes was unsealed Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. Most of the charges carry a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Wander and 777 had failed last year in targeting their biggest capture in soccer, nine-time English champion Everton, amid increasing scrutiny of the business and a lawsuit in New York from a London-based investor.

Reporting about 777’s soccer interests, led by Norwegian soccer magazine Josimar, intensified even before Wander was elected to a board seat at the influential European Club Association, a network of hundreds of teams that shapes the Champions League and other competitions.

Wander’s firm had moved heavily into soccer in 2021, buying stakes in financially distressed clubs recovering from playing in empty stadiums during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The former chief financial officer at 777, Damien Alfalla, “is cooperating with the government,” the FBI said, and made a guilty plea this week.

“The women and men of the SDNY and our law enforcement partners will continue to work tirelessly to protect our investors and our markets,” Clayton said.

Another 777 executive, Steven Pasko, also is targeted in a civil law court filing Thursday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.