search

The Real Deal Logo

Trending

Glossier founder is buyer of $22M Brooklyn townhouseGlossier founder is buyer of $22M Brooklyn townhouseTides’ original investors may be wiped out by preferred equity dealTides’ original investors may be wiped out by preferred equity dealBushburg buying Rudin’s half-empty FiDi office building for $160MBushburg buying Rudin’s half-empty FiDi office building for $160MLandlords to Rent Board: The Bronx will burn againLandlords to Rent Board: The Bronx will burn again
Commercial
New York

Two more arrested in connection to Bar Works Ponzi scheme

SEC charged British citizens in $57M fraud

A photo illustration of Renwick Haddow (Getty)
A photo illustration of Renwick Haddow (Getty)

Two additional high-profile arrests have been made in connection with the co-workin Bar Works Ponzi scheme.

United Property Group principals James Robinson and David Kennedy were arrested in Spain on Wednesday, prosecutors for the Southern District of New York announced. The federal government will seek the British citizens’ extradition to the United States.

The SEC charged Robinson and Kennedy with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Between September 2015 and July 2016, Robinson and Kennedy raised more than $7.5 million from hundreds of investors in the scheme, according to the SEC. They allegedly used false and misleading materials to recruit sales agents, falsely touting the background of fake CEO “Jonathan Black” while omitting mention of Renwick Haddow, the actual individual behind Bar Works.

The SEC claimed Robinson and Kennedy reaped at least $2 million from Haddow and the Bar Works companies as a result of their roles in the scheme.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Robinson and Kennedy could not be reached for comment. A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

Bar Works was at the center of a scheme to defraud more than 800 investors out of $57 million, Southern District of New York prosecutors previously said.

This year, co-conspirator James Moore was sentenced to 11 years in prison, three years after federal prosecutors announced him as the first conviction in its investigation into the New York-based startup. Moore was also ordered to pay $58 million in restitution.

Investors from around the world filed lawsuits against Haddow in 2017 regarding missed rent payments, months after Haddow’s connection to Bar Works was first exposed by The Real Deal. The now-shuttered company operated combination bar-and-office spaces in the United States and Istanbul, selling securities tied to the rental income from desks.

Bar Works co-founder Savraj Gata-Aura received a four-year prison sentence in July 2020. Haddow is set to be sentenced in April after admitting involvement in the Bar Works scheme and a separate Bitcoin-related scheme.

Read more
Tags
Bar WorksCo-workingCrimePonzi SchemeS.e.c.