Federal authorities said Friday they charged Fat Brands and its chair, Andy Wiederhorn, of committing a brazen scheme that netted him $47 million in bogus loans from the restaurant company that owns Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks. Fat Brands, Wiederhorn and a few other people were criminally indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles for wire fraud, tax evasion and other counts related to the alleged scheme.
In February, Fat Brands disclosed it had received a Wells Notice from the agency, meaning the SEC was planning to take action against it. Wiederhorn’s alleged fraud accounted for roughly 44% of Fat Brands’ revenue from 2017 to 2021, which meant the company often wasn’t able to pay its bills.