Andy Wiederhorn, former CEO of Fatburger.
CNBC
The Department of Justice is dropping its case against Fat brands and his Andy Wiederhorn chair.
In May 2024, the company and Wiederhororn were accused by a Federal Grand Jury in Los Angeles for charges of electronic fraud, tax evasion and other positions related to what prosecutors assumed that it was a “simulated” loan scheme that noted Wiederhorn $ 47 million.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors presented to dismiss all positions against Wiederhorn, two other people and the restaurant company that Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Great American Cookies have.
Wiederhorn kept his innocence since he was accused. He was previously sentenced approximately two decades for submitting a fake tax declaration and paying an illegal tip to an associate, attending more than a year in a federal prison.
“With this accusation behind us, I hope to focus on the continuous growth and success of fat brands,” he said in a statement.
Wiederhorn resigned as CEO of Fat Brands in 2023 after the company revealed that the stock exchange and values commission was investigating it. Gordas and Wiederhorn brands have not resolved the separated civil complaint from the SEC derived from the same alleged conduct that caused the positions of the Department of Justice.
Prosecutors also asked the Federal Court to dismiss the separate criminal charges raised against Wiederhorn to be a federal criminal in possession of a gun and ammunition.
The reversal of the Department of Justice occurs after the agency’s shake after the start of President Donald Trump’s second mandate. In March, the White House dismissed Adam Schleifer, the United States assistant prosecutor in Los Angeles led by the Prosecutor’s Office against Wiederhorn. Schleifer later claimed that his dismissal was the result of a smear campaign against him led by Wiederhorn.
Despite the billing, the officials of the Department of Justice in California told Oregonian in April that the Prosecutor’s Office against Gordas and Wiederhorn brands would continue.
Months before, the company donated $ 100,000 to the Trump opening fund.
Fat Brands’s actions rose 7% on Wednesday morning in the news. The action has a market capitalization of less than $ 43 million.
