US Govt says co-operation of Ponzi scammer Renwick Haddow continues
The parties request that sentencing and all associated sentencing submissions and pre-sentencing report deadlines continue to be adjourned.
The United States Government has earlier today filed a Letter with the New York Southern District Court providing a brief update on the latest developments in the criminal proceedings targeting Renwick Haddow, known for operating fraudulent schemes such as Bar Works and Bitcoin Store Inc.
In the document, seen by FinanceFeeds, the Government says that Haddow’s cooperation with the Government continues, and is expected to continue for the next six months. Accordingly, the parties request that sentencing and all associated sentencing submissions and pre-sentencing report deadlines continue to be adjourned. The parties propose to update the Court within 180 days as to whether sentencing should continue to be adjourned.
In May 2019, U.S. Attorney Berman announced the unsealing of a guilty plea, on May 8, 2019, by Renwick Haddow, a/k/a “Jonathan Black,” in which he admitted to his own involvement in the fraudulent scheme related to Bar Works, as well as to making material misrepresentations and misappropriating investment funds in another company created by him called Bitcoin Store Inc.
Haddow was originally charged in June 2017 and extradited from Morocco in April 2018. He pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is cooperating with the Government in the criminal investigation.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also taken action against Haddow. On September 10, 2019, Judge Lorna G. Schofield signed an Order approving a consent judgment in the case brought by the SEC. As per the Order, Haddow is permanently restrained and enjoined from violating, directly or indirectly, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b, by using any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or of the mails, or of any facility of any national securities exchange, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security:
- a) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud;
- b) to make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or
- c) to engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person.
The Order leaves open the issue of monetary relief – disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and civil monetary penalties – to be decided at a later time, either through settlement or by motion before the Court.
