Everton’s prospective owners 777 face legal demand for seizure of assets in Belgium

Everton’s prospective new owners have been plunged further into legal turmoil as former owners at Standard de Liège demand the seizure of millions of pounds of assets.

Crisis-hit 777 Partners have been hit with two new legal claims just days after one of the investment firm’s airlines collapsed and another major lawsuit was launched in New York.

A senior source close to talks confirmed claims had been launched by Standard’s former owner Bruno Venanzi and Immobilière du Standard, the company which owned the club’s famous Stade de Sclessin.

The two main creditors for Standard, who are part of the Miami-firm’s multi-club ownership model, are asking for the seizure of all 777’s assets in Belgium. The cases first came to light in a report on the Josimar website, but have been independently verified by Telegraph Sport. A spokesman for 777 Partners declined to comment.

Anger in Belgian football is mounting at 777, with national newspaper Le Soir reporting wages are also overdue to Standard’s players. 777 are alleged in legal papers to have also defaulted on two tranches of payment owed to Venanzi as well as other former club shareholders, thought to include former Tottenham player Nacer Chadli.

Assets being demanded in the new claims include the shares which Venanzi gave up in 2022 as well as the stadium, worth an estimated £6 million. In their latest accounts, Standard Liège posted €20 million (£17.1 million) losses for the 2022-23 season under 777 Partners, which had promised to reduce the debt burden.

Standard were also temporarily hit with transfer bans after the club failed to pay transfer fees, bonuses, VAT and social insurance contributions. Hertha Berlin, Brazil’s Vasco da Gama, France’s Red Star and Italy’s Genoa are other clubs in its portfolio.

The company first struck a deal to buy Everton last September, but doubt is now mounting that the Premier League can provide approval over the coming weeks.

London asset manager Leadenhall Capital is also seeking damages after accusing 777 and co-founder Josh Wander of pledging more than $350 million (£278 million) in assets that “either did not exist, were not actually owned by Wander’s entities, or had already been pledged to another lender”. Within an 82-page New York legal claim, Leadenhall allege “777 Partners and its affiliates have been named in no less than sixteen lawsuits generally concerning unpaid debts and collectively demanding more than $130 million (£103 million)”. Many of the cases referenced were filed in recent months.

When asked about the 16 cases, a spokesman for 777 declined to comment again on Sunday but the company has previously told Telegraph Sport that some cases against the group had been resolved.

Last week, 777 Partners made a last-minute payment of around £16 million towards working capital at the Premier League side, to ease alarm shortly after one of its airlines Bonza abruptly ceased flying.