The Real Deal won an award from the New York Press Club for best crime reporting in the magazine category for senior reporter Konrad Putzier’s coverage of Bar Works, the organization announced this week.
Editorial director Hiten Samtani and managing web editor James Kleimann shared the award with Putzier. In January 2017, TRD uncovered that a British accused fraudster using an assumed name was secretly running the New York-based co-working startup Bar Works, whose investment offerings were similar to past alleged Ponzi schemes. Putzier’s subsequent articles traced the victims’ efforts to recover their money, and showed how Bar Works was part of a broader rise of online real estate investment fraud.
In June, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled fraud charges the Bar Works founder, Renwick Haddow. He was arrested in Morocco and later extradited to the U.S., where he faces trial. Prosecutors allege that he took $37 million from investors.
The prestigious New York Press Club awards are nationally recognized for honoring excellence in journalism and have been covered in publications like the New York Times and Bloomberg.
TRD’s Bar Works coverage is also part of a package of stories that recently won a general excellence award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, which honors exceptional business journalism across the U.S.