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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Climate warrior Leonardo DiCaprio slammed as hypocrite for fleeing LA fires in private jet



Hollywood’s number one climate change apologist, Leonardo DiCaprio, is being condemned as a hypocrite — and not for the first time.

The three-time Golden Globe winner loves to assume the role of eco-warrior when he gives scathing speeches at climate conventions and donates some of his millions to environmental causes. Just don’t ask him to change his personal lifestyle.

For example, don’t ask him to give up his private jet, helicopter, or yacht.

Back in 2023, DiCaprio was lambasted for flying his private helicopter from his yacht to lunch in the Italian countryside. Critics condemned the celeb’s use of these petroleum guzzlers to travel short distances for frivolous reasons when he is known for criticizing others for doing the same thing.

Now, the Titanic star is embroiled in another scandal related to his climate hypocrisy.


“Leonardo DiCaprio and his 12-year-old girlfriend arrived in Mexico in a private jet yesterday,” says Pat Gray.

DiCaprio, 50, and his Italian model girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti, who is actually 26 years old, fled the Los Angeles wildfires to Mexico in a private jet, once again sparking outrage, as the act clearly contradicts DiCaprio’s stance on climate change.

“I don't begrudge anybody flying private jets. What's irritating is when you lecture the rest of us about climate change, and then you jet off in a private jet with your girlfriend to Mexico while more than a 100,000 people are being evacuated,” says Pat.

“Given Leo's reputation ... as an environmental advocate, it raised eyebrows that he would take a private jet during such a natural disaster affecting his own community. ... Dressed in a casual hoodie and baseball cap, he appeared unfazed as he stepped off the plane alongside Ceretti,” he says, reading from a Daily Mail article.

To hear more of the team’s commentary, watch the clip above.

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FACT CHECK: Photo Shows Leonardo DiCaprio With His Niece, Not Greta Thunberg

A photo shared to Facebook claims to show actor Leonardo DiCaprio on a luxury yacht with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Verdict: False The image captured DiCaprio and his niece in 2023. It was digitally altered to replace DiCaprio’s niece with Thunberg. Fact Check: Social media users are sharing an image of DiCaprio and a […]

HYPOCRISY in Hollywood – check out how Leonardo DiCaprio, the “king of climate catastrophizing,” chooses to dine



Leonardo DiCaprio is almost as well known for his climate-control activism as he is for his blockbusting acting career.

The three-time Golden Globe winner has given speeches at climate conventions, donated portions of his millions to environmental organizations, served as a board member for the World Wildlife Fund, and recently promised to fund climate education programs for children.

It’s easy to see DiCaprio is serious about our so-called climate crisis.

Except when it comes to his personal lifestyle, that is.

Where his individual freedoms are concerned, it’s clear this eco-warrior thinks he deserves an exemption.

Disclose.tv recently released an article titled “La Dolce Vita in Italy: For visits to the countryside for lunch, dinner, or disco, 'climate activist' Leonardo DiCaprio likes to take the helicopter from his luxury yacht.”

That’s right, Leonardo DiCaprio — the “king of climate catastrophizing” himself — not only owns a helicopter and a yacht but also uses them to travel short distances so that he can dine on delicacies in the Italian countryside.

What a guy.

“He could get on a dinghy and take it so he could have lunch,” Rubin laughs, “but no, he takes the helicopter, which burns a lot of fuel.”

And we can’t forget the yacht, which also “burns a lot of fuel.”

These bigwigs in Hollywood “are all liars,” Rubin says.


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Mark Ruffalo, Leonardo DiCaprio, other A-list activists speak out and demand bank defund the Canada Gas pipeline: 'People listen to us'



A gaggle of A-list celebrities including Mark Ruffalo and Leonardo DiCaprio are calling on the Royal Bank of Canada to defund the Canada Gas pipeline.

What are the details?

Ruffalo and others signed an open letter calling for the bank to "withdraw support form the Coastal GasLink pipeline" and accused the financier of "bankrolling the climate crisis" as well as "violating the rights of Indigenous Peoples."

In addition to featuring Ruffalo and DiCaprio, the letter included signatures of entertainers such as Ben Stiller, Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Gad, Julianne Moore, Mariska Hargitay, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Susan Sarandon, and more.

Ruffalo added that he and his peers were demanding the bank defund the pipeline because they were privileged enough to have a platform and because "people listen to us."

“We have this privilege and we have to use it for the right thing," he reasoned. "None of this matters if our children can’t drink the water, they can’t breathe the air, they can’t go outside, the world burns around them. None of this means anything anymore. We’re becoming desensitized to this insanity that we’re living in.”

During a Wednesday press conference, Ruffalo added, “We have a responsibility to each other. And it’s time for good people and privileged people, like us, to do the right thing. To make other people, good people, uncomfortable. That’s the only way we’re going to break through this system of racism and harm.”

You can read the letter in its entirety below.

We, the undersigned, demand that City National Bank's parent company, Royal Bank of Canada, withdraw support from the Coastal GasLink pipeline, effective immediately.

Uphold, affirm and respect the rights of Indigenous peoples. It is critical that CNB and RBC not only “respect” the rights of Indigenous Peoples, but adhere to policies and practices that ensure the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous peoples as defined in the United Nations Declaration of The Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) under Article 32.

City National Bank’s parent company Royal Bank of Canada is bankrolling the climate crisis and violating the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Though RBC claims to be a leader in climate-conscious banking, since acquiring CNB in 2015 RBC has spent more $160 billion to become one of the world’s largest and most aggressive financiers of tar sands, fossil fuel extraction, and transport. RBC is now the fifth largest funder of fossil fuels in the world. BankingOnClimateChaos.org

Though publicly claiming to “respect the inherent right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination”, RBC is heavily invested in the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline now bulldozing through the pristine territory and waters of the Wet’suwet’en Peoples, without the consent of the Hereditary Chiefs.

The time to defund Coastal GasLink is now. RBC must withdraw from the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline now and stop financing fossil fuels.

What else?

Ruffalo also shared a video to YouTube where he explained the necessity of defunding the pipeline.

“Right now, major banks like the Royal Bank of Canada are financing a fracked gas pipeline bulldozing through the land of the Wet’suwet’en nation in Northern British Columbia, Canada,” he said in the video. “The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs never consented to this pipeline construction through their territories, which would risk the sacred headwaters of the Wedzin Kwa River, but here’s where it gets complicated.”

“The Supreme Court of Canada recognized Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs as rightful title holders of the land, but corporations still get away with consulting only ‘elected leadership’ put in place by the colonial government,” he added.

#StandForTheLand - No More Dirty Bankswww.youtube.com