United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 23-2723 EIDO HUSSAM AL-NAHHAS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. 777 PARTNERS LLC, et al., Defendants-Appellants. ____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. No. 1:22-cv-00750 — John J. Tharp, Jr., Judge. ____________________

ARGUED APRIL 9, 2024 — DECIDED FEBRUARY 19, 2025 ____________________

Before EASTERBROOK, ROVNER, and JACKSON-AKIWUMI, Circuit Judges. JACKSON-AKIWUMI, Circuit Judge. Illinois resident Eido Hussam Al-Nahhas took out four loans from an online lend- ing company called Rosebud Lending LZO, doing business as ZocaLoans. Those loans charged exorbitant interest rates of up to nearly 700%—far beyond the rates allowed under Illi- nois law. Al-Nahhas contends that ZocaLoans is, in fact, a fraud orchestrated by two private equity firms, 777 Partners, 2