Everton takeover: Farhad Moshiri and 777 Partners hold face-to-face talks as concerns grow

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri has held face-to-face talks with potential owners 777 Partners in London this week after fresh doubt was cast on the deal being done.

Moshiri, who agreed to sell his 94.1% shareholding in the club to the Miami-based investment firm back in September of last year, has held talks with 777 co-founder Josh Wander, as first reported by Sky Sports and since independently verified by the ECHO, in a bid to try and gain some clarity over where the deal stands.

777 Partners has seen their bid to acquire Everton mired in difficulty, with allegations of late or missed payments having been a common theme over the past seven months in relation to the company’s other business interests, while they have been facing a string of legal issues in the United States.

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Over the weekend it was revealed that 777 Partners had been accused of being the architects of a ‘fraudulent scheme’ in civil court filings in New York, a lawsuit brought by London-based Leadenhall Capital Partners LLP and Leadenhall Life Insurance Linked Investments Fund PLC which claimed Wander and 777 Partners, whom Wander co-founded with Steven Pasko in 2015, 'pledged' over $350m (£279m) in assets as collateral for a credit facility agreement, but knew they "did not exist" or were "not actually owned by Wander’s entities.”

Leadenhall's US court filing stated: "Everton is the latest shiny object of Wander’s fraudulent scheme, solvency aside.

"Upon information and belief, Wander and Pasko are operating a giant shell game at best, and an outright Ponzi scheme at worst, that takes