#redstarfc

The issue I have is fans complain about Arab oil money but are silent with absent Statian money. All these usa based investment firms dealing with futebol clubs. No harsh critique whatsoever from a major pundit. That shows how corrupt the media narrative is to arab oil money. The worst cases of foreign ownership are from the usa.

Standard has changed ownership: here's what the new charges against 777 Partners and A-CAP in New York Court reveal By Benjamin Verpoorten The complaint that has reached us is twice as big as the previous one. 156 aggressive pages in which the company Leadenhall, which has already filed a complaint against 777 Partners and A-CAP, reiterates its accusations and goes a step further. 777 Partners and its main investor, the American insurer A-CAP, have multiplied smokescreens to hide their fraud. The plaintiffs say that everything they suspected is confirmed: 777 Partners no longer exists, A-CAP has indeed taken over the group, as we suspected. It is now this insurer that manages all the expenses of 777 Partners' possessions, except that it is being sued alongside it for fraud. What we suspected is thus confirmed, 777 Partners is no longer the owner of its football clubs, including Standard de Liège. The 7 clubs are now controlled and managed by A-CAP. The American insurer sent a letter on July 26, 2024 to all the clubs in the 777 galaxy to announce that it was their new owner. As a result, pending a possible sale, Standard's survival depends on A-CAP. The problems encountered by the insurance company are likely to have a direct impact on the finances of the number 16 and could cause it to sink. A quick sale should save Standard, but nothing seems to be moving on this side. According to our information, there is still no serious candidate for the takeover. Standard must therefore rely on A-CAP, but as you will see, this new owner is severely attacked in the complaint. The document we were able to obtain is a V2 of the initial complaint. The plaintiffs point out that A-CAP and 777 Partners are suspected of fraud, forgery, conspiracies, and lying about guarantees offered against loans, to arrive at a kind of Ponzi scheme. But the complaint goes further. It confirms the very close ties between A-CAP and 777 Partners. The plaintiffs are convinced that the American insurer could not have been unaware of the fraud of 777 Partners. Worse, he is suspected of having participated in it, in particular by using forgeries to conceal the fraud. A-CAP acted in this way to protect its interests. It is the largest creditor of 777 Partners and the figures that would have been invested in the Miami group are dizzying: 3 billion dollars. That's 25% of everything the insurer owns and above all, it's the money of millions of Americans who have trusted it. This money was then invested, but at a loss, in 777 Partners to finance a good number of its purchases, including Standard. Was the objective to satisfy a dream and manage clubs? Absolutely not. According to Leadenhall, 777 Partners and A-CAP did not really want to invest in the world of football. Rather, it was an opportunity to obtain valuable assets to attract other investors, or to put these assets as collateral to buy other, even larger assets, as shown for example by the failed takeover attempt of Everton.

The plaintiffs then denounce the opacity that reigns around the incestuous marriage between 777 and A-CAP. They point to the set-up of companies owned by 777 Partners, with strange or complex ramifications aimed at losing those who are interested in them or hiding what cannot be seen. A specific example caught our attention. The creation of 600 Partners, a sister company of 777 Partners which housed the entire football galaxy of the 777 group and which guaranteed that Standard would obtain and keep its professional license. According to the plaintiffs, 600 Partners was founded just to maintain the trust of a bank. She refused to continue working with 777 Partners co-founder Josh Wander when she learned of his past drug trafficking conviction. So the man created 600 Partners, put his partner Steven Pasko as manager to prove that he was taking a step aside. But in reality, Josh Wander is present and makes all the decisions alongside his partner. These structural arrangements would thus be linked to lies, to satisfy personal ambitions and interests. They would have allowed the various bosses to enrich themselves personally by directly benefiting from the money of their companies, including sums lent to them, which is illegal. A-CAP boss Kenneth King is accused of buying an $11 million property in Miami thanks to this.

The document also discusses the financial secrecy of 777 and A-CAP. This is where 777 SDL, the Belgian subsidiary of 777 Partners and official owner of Standard, is mentioned. As we revealed in June, then in August, it did not publish its accounts on time. At the time, we contacted Standard who assured us that everything would be settled within 10 days. That was a month ago, there is still no publication. The complaint confirms that this case is not an isolated case, other entities of 777 Partners are in the same situation: the Italian football club Genoa, 777re which is the reinsurance company of 777 Partners and its main source of income, and finally, A-CAP itself. Not all of these companies provide financial data that is considered reliable. The plaintiffs' lawyers show that A-CAP often makes multiple movements between its own companies on the same day to arrange the accounts and hide certain problems or to meet the expectations of the control bodies in time. These elements are in addition to other information revealed by the Barron's website. It raised thorny questions about A-CAP's investments in companies that would be discreetly linked to it or "ghost" companies, which do not seem to exist. A-CAP would have taken over the management of the entire 777 galaxy, only in order to lose as little money as possible. It is for this reason that the expenses to keep Standard afloat are of concern to Leadenhall, the plaintiff. The company has the feeling that money is being thrown out the window, because Standard is in deficit. Won't this complaint push A-CAP to cut off the tank? Worse, demand that Standard repay certain loans and then pay the plaintiff and ease tensions? A-CAP could also be the victim of panic among its policyholders. Panicked by the insurer's situation, they would like to get their money back or leave the company, which could be fatal to A-CAP. This would be a disaster for the Liège club.

Another question arises, what about the Belgian justice system? Standard's situation could attract the attention of Belgian investigators as the club seems to be a piece at the heart of a fraud puzzle. The money used to buy it could be the result of the offences. Could Standard have been used, against its will, to launder this fraudulently acquired money?

All this, coupled with the club's financial situation and its Belgian legal problems, complicates the sale. According to our information, nothing is moving, there is still no serious candidate and this new complaint will not reassure potential candidates. The next few months will be decisive.

There is still one lead, a takeover by Bruno Venanzi. The former president of Standard is negotiating with A-CAP and the management of Standard to try to manage the conflicts that concern them. The club's ownership would be in the balance. The former strongman of Sclessin would even have surrounded himself with Russian investors to revive the machine. A Finnish media outlet revealed that Bruno Venanzi joined a company called Basketball Holding Company linked to one of these Russians and that this company bought a basketball club in Helsinki. Will these negotiations between Bruno Venanzi, Standard and A-CAP succeed? They have been underway for several months and are continuing. But it seems unlikely to us that A-CAP will let Standard go for free while they are looking for liquidity. Time is running out, it comes to us that the month of October will even be crucial for Standard, with several debts that will come due and that will have to be honoured.

URL https://www.rtbf.be/article/le-standard-a-change-de-proprietaire-voici-ce-que-revelent-les-nouvelles-accusations-contre-777-partners-et-a-cap-au-tribunal-de-new-york-11428337