Ballmer's Secret I.O.U., Aspiration's "Web of Lies" and the Zenith of Fraud: Kawhi-Gate, Part XI
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what this sound is.
You could go to the SEC and say, you know, sorry, we disclosed it, but we didn't disclose enough. That's a more common issue, right, where you don't disclose enough. But the fact that there's no disclosure at all is pretty egregious. Right after this ad.
David is... Switzing?
Big time. Europe hotels, baby.
David, I want to thank you for doing this, given that you're beaming in from Germany for this emergency episode.
It is a time of day that no one should be speaking as loudly as I'm speaking in a hotel room.
Part 11 of our Aspiration series demands this. Lou Manzo, we are joined again by him here in New York City, David. This is, of course, a longtime PTFO listener turned new special legal analyst who is subbing in for Amin El-Hassan, who is... In a foreign territory known as San Antonio for the NBA finals and what Lou lacks in, I would say, a credible Doc Rivers impression, he makes up for in literally being the former Department of Justice prosecutor who launched the federal government's investigation into Aspiration co-founder Joe Sandberg
Back in 23.
Right. So I should recap here for everybody. David Liu was not one of my sources when we started this series in September of 25. He was merely listening. We finally got in touch for the very first time earlier this year on the dating app known as LinkedIn. which has become, I would say, decreasingly helpful for my reporting now that people know that I'm creeping around there. You know, I always like it when you click on my profile.
I check it out.
We are watching each other, but the thing I immediately discovered, David, that I learned about Lou that's relevant here is that the whistleblower complaint that you and I and Amin... read aloud from at Sloan Live as you sat in the chair that Adam Silver sat in in spring of 26, this was something that Lew had read in, yes, 2023, in the spring of that year, meaning he had also already considered, vetted, the witnesses inside of Aspiration who had specifically mentioned in writing under penalty of perjury that Aspiration had found a way to, David?
Pay Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard an incentivized bonus to circumvent the NBA's salary cap disguised as an organic marketing sponsorship agreement.
And this whistleblower complaint, the very same one, would provide Lou and the DOJ a roadmap for the successful prosecution, ultimately, of Joe Sandberg and...
What else can we say about this, Lou, before you caveat us into... Well, I should caveat it and say again, I'm speaking without any personal knowledge of what's happened in the last couple years. I don't have a source inside DOJ. I'm not going to pretend I do. And I can't talk about what I did at DOJ. But I can talk about kind of the tea leaf reading of what's happened in the last week and hopefully walk us through his sentencing.
David, not everybody is happy that Lou is here. This is why Lou is saying this, in part.
It's amazing, Pablo. You bring in a guy who starts off sort of hands up, can't talk, does a great episode, very important, and he's back. I had it four to one that we'd never see Lou's face again.
Well, unfortunately for certain defense attorneys who may or may not have placed a court filing into the public record last week, Lou is back. And I would like you, David, to now read one reaction from Joe Sandberg's attorneys to the aforementioned episode that we did together.
Equally stunning and prejudicial is that a former DOJ prosecutor who was involved in this case appeared on a popular podcast on May 5th to offer commentary about sentencing in this case while it is still pending.
And my favorite part is that after that, they put in parentheses, see... http://www.pablo.show.p slash the DOJ's Aspiration Prosecutor Joins, which is, of course, a newsletter that you can subscribe to. I appreciate everybody digging through court filings to actually get a way to subscribe. I also want to thank Lou for having the balls to come back.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–8:01
2
How did Joe Sandberg's sentencing impact the investigation?
8:01–12:53
3
What was Steve Ballmer's role in the Kawhi Leonard deal?
12:53–19:17
4
How did the SEC's investigation unfold?
19:17–26:56
5
What are the implications of the put-right option?
26:56–33:50
6
How does the round-tripping scheme work in this case?
33:50–41:42
7
What are the legal responsibilities of investors like Ballmer?
41:42–50:15
8
What conclusions can be drawn about the credibility of the involved parties?
50:15–1:03:07
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from Pablo Torre Finds Out
We Investigated the Christian "Scam" Fronted by Tim Tebow
The Rules of Kawhi Engagement: A Visit to Los Angeles, with Clippers Super-Fan Paul Scheer
Share & Rot & Tell with Mina Kimes
Steve Ballmer's Sword, the DOJ's Probe and a "Road to Jail Time": Kawhi-Gate, Part XVI
The Revolution of Stavros Halkias Will Be Vindicated
The Sporting Class: Private Equity, Salary Caps and Whether Players Should Want a Piece