The SEC wants a court decision against James Bernard Moore, an accomplice of Ponzi fraudster Renwick Haddow.
The Commission has accused Moore and Voicetech of aiding and helping Renwick Haddow and two businesses he owned to commit securities fraud that violated the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Rule 10b-5 rule. Moore and Voicetech were aware or recklessly ignored that their marketing material to investors was false and misleading.
The SEC is accusing Haddow of collecting $37 million from people by selling them leases and sub-leases in a company called Bar Works. The investors were promised a certain amount back in payments. The SEC is saying that Haddow made up false information in order to get the investments.
Bar Works’ website and offering documents claimed that their CEO, “Jonathan Black,” had lots of experience, but he was actually made up and was controlled by Haddow instead. Additionally, there was no mention of Haddow himself, even though he had been sued for a prior illegal investment scheme by the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K.
The Commission accuses Moore and Voicetech of aiding John Haddow, who was the one that took away the majority of the money that Bar Works raised from investors. Haddow pled guilty to a criminal case with wire fraud and conspiracy and partially settled with the Commission. Moore and Voicetech found agents to ask for investments and knew that the materials used contained a made-up name of the CEO with no mention of Haddow. They profited from the deal by getting $1.599 million.
On October 18, 2018, a lawsuit was filed accusing Moore of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. June 7, 2019, a jury found him guilty of both charges. On February 1, 2022, Judge Berman handed down a sentence of 140 months in prison, declared that Moore illegally acquired $1,599,257.46, and ordered him to pay more than $57.5 million in restitution. Moore has appealed the conviction, and the case is now being reviewed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
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