Former UBS Fund Sues Pillsbury Over $145 Million Aspiration Fraud

Aspiration Partners built its reputation on digital banking, tree-planting and carbon-credit services, attracting celebrity investors and briefly securing a valuation of more than $2 billion. But the company remained unprofitable for years. Founder Joseph Sanberg later admitted defrauding investors and lenders of more than $248 million using fabricated customer contracts and financial data, exposing due-diligence failures in the rapidly expanding private-credit market.

Clover, a private-credit fund formerly managed by UBS Asset Management, sued law firm Pillsbury and partner Riaz Karamali in the New York State Supreme Court on June 2, 2026. The lawsuit alleges they provided fabricated proof of Fidelity accounts and dozens of financial documents that facilitated two loans totaling $145 million. Sanberg was sentenced to 14 years in prison the same day. Pillsbury denied the allegations.