WASHINGTON — The Justice Department dropped a case against restaurant group Fat Brands and its chairman, Andy Wiederhorn, on Tuesday, months after the White House took the unusual step of directly firing a career federal prosecutor who was handling the case.
The government filed an unopposed motion Tuesday to dismiss a case against Wiederhorn, as well as William Amon, Rebecca Hershinger and Fat Brands Inc., which alleged a scheme to conceal $47 million paid to Wiederhorn. The government also filed a separate motion to dismiss a case in which Wiederhorn was charged with possessing a firearm and ammunition despite his previous felony convictions.
In a news release announcing the case against Wiederhorn, Fat Brands, Amon and Hershinger last year, Martin Estrada, then the U.S attorney for the Central District of California, said the allegations involved Wiederhorn's using the company "as his personal slush fund," while an IRS official said the allegations showed Wiederhorn was a "serial tax cheat." Fat Brands, Wiederhorn, Amon and Hershinger had all pleaded not guilty last year.
The motion to dismiss the federal case came months after Trump supporter and right-wing activist Laura Loomer and others called on President Donald Trump to fire Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Schleifer, the lead prosecutor on the Fat Brands case, highlighting anti-Trump comments he made during a previous, unsuccessful bid for Congress as a Democrat. Schleifer was fired in March.
While Attorney General Pam Bondi has carried many recent dismissals of career federal prosecutors, Schleifer was fired in an email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office.
A former veteran of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said it was "bizarre" and "insane" for the White House to be firing career prosecutors.
Wiederhorn donated almost $19,000 to Trump and Republican causes in the 2024 cycle, Bloomberg Law noted.
“From day one, we have maintained Andy’s innocence,” Wiederhorn attorney Nick Hanna of the law firm Gibson Dunn said in a statement. “We are extremely grateful that the U.S. Attorney’s Office listened to our arguments and determined, in the interests of justice, that all charges should be dropped.”
Douglas Fuchs, another lawyer for Wiederhorn, said that the government took the "appropriate step" in dismissing the case and that "this is a case with no victims, no losses and no crimes."
Wiederhorn said that he was “grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for taking a fresh look at this case and to the attorneys who worked tirelessly on my behalf and on behalf of the other defendants" and that he looked "forward to focusing on the continued growth and success of FATBrands.”
The unopposed motion to dismiss the case against all defendants, signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Reidy, names interim U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli, who has been vocal about his support for Trump’s agenda on social media and in media appearances.
Fat Brands owns a number of restaurant brands, including Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks.
