By Chris Lang
On 27 July 2020, Savraj Gata-Aura was sentenced to four years in prison for his part in the Bar Works investment scam. More than 800 investors handed over more than US$40 million supposedly as investments in the Bar Works co-working space company. Gata-Aura co-founded Bar Works in 2015 with serial scammer Renwick Haddow.
Gata-Aura was arrested in New York on 23 May 2019 and charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud “for engaging in a scheme to defraud victims by making material misrepresentations about the management and operations of a company called Bar Works Inc. and related entities.”
In a press release about the arrest, Geoffrey S. Berman, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, commented that,
“Haddow and co-defendant Savraj Gata-Aura allegedly solicited funds from investors with fictitious claims about Bar Works’ management and performance. They are now being held to account for the blizzard of lies they told to get money from their unsuspecting victims.”
Gata-Aura is also known as Sam Aura. In May 2017, REDD-Monitor wrote about an interview that Sam Aura gave on School for Startups Radio in April 2016:
Gata-Aura’s “primary motivation was greed”
In November 2019, Gata-Aura pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In a press release about the sentence, acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss says,
“For more than a year-and-a-half, Savraj Gata-Aura lured hundreds of victims to invest approximately $40 million into a massive Ponzi scheme. He concealed from investors that Bar Works was run by Renwick Haddow, who has pled guilty for his role in this and another fraud scheme, instead listing the fictional CEO ‘Jonathan Black’ in offering documents. By the time the scheme collapsed, Gata-Aura had personally made close to $3 million from unsuspecting investors.”
Haddow hid his involvement in Bar Works by adopting an alias: “Jonathan Black”. He did so because he’d been disqualified as a director in the UK, and sued by the Financial Conduct Authority. Haddow’s record of fraudulent investment schemes is well known.
Gata-Aura was fully aware that “Jonathan Black” was Haddow’s creation, to hide Haddow’s involvement in Bar Works. The press release about Gata-Aura’s sentencing states that,
“Gata-Aura helped devise and distribute pitch materials that contained the misrepresentation, coordinated a substantial sales force to recruit investors knowing that the materials contained the falsehood, advised Haddow as to how to continue to conceal the truth concerning the identity of ‘Jonathan Black,’ and affirmatively represented to sub-agents for investors that he was communicating with CEO ‘Jonathan Black.’
Gata-Aura aimed to attract investors from outside the US, because it would be more difficult for them to see the Bar Works locations.
In his sentencing, Judge Jed S. Rakoff said that Gato-Aura “lied, cheated, and as a result many victims were left destitute or deprived of money that was important to them.” He added that, “His primary motivation was greed.”
In addition to four years in prison, Gata-Aura was sentenced to three years of supervised release. Gata-Aura also has to repay the nearly US$3 million he took under the Bar Works scam. The press release states that, “The Court will also enter a resititution order at a later date.” In other words, the Court will order Gata-Aura to reimburse victims.
On 23 May 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil case against Gata-Aura. That lawsuit was on hold pending the criminal case.
Gata-Aura and Park First
Gata-Aura previously worked in the UK for a company called Park First. The company offered investments in airport car parking spaces and promised a “guaranteed” rate of return. In December 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority shut down Park First because it was an unauthorised collective investment scheme.
In October 2019, the Financial Conduct Authority launched legal action against Park First and a web of companies run by Toby Whittaker. Meanwhile, the Insolvency Service is investigating Whittaker’s Store First investment scheme that claims to have 5,000 investors who handed over a total of £250 million.
After he moved to the US in 2015, Gata-Aura bought a car park in North Charleston in South Carolina. The car park provided parking spaces for people flying from Charleston International airport. The car park offered cheaper long-term rates than the airport car parks.
Gata-Aura bought the North Charleston car park from Adam and Jay Vane, whose family had run the car park since 2001. Gata-Aura convinced them to give him a US$1.3 million loan to buy the site. By November 2019, the loan was in default and Gata-Aura now owes the Vanes nearly US$1 million.
Gata-Aura advertised the Park & Go car park as part of his U.S. Parking Investments business. The company claimed to sell “institutional grade” securities in car parking spaces with returns of 12% per year. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that Gata-Aura hoped to raise US$5.6 million from investments in Park & Go. The minimum investment was US$32,000.
In May 2020, Gata-Aura shut down the car park blaming coronavirus for causing a dramatic drop in people flying and therefore in customers for his car park.
The Post and Courier, a Charleston newspaper, notes that, “No criminal charges have been filed related to the parking lot.”
I’ve been in contact with Sam. I’m from Europe. Unfortunately, I invested 50k USD and got scammed like all the other investors. I filed a complaint with the SEC, but to this day I haven’t received a response. The only source where I can get information is this forum. Thanks for that.
Hi there, I also filed / registered with SEC and have heard nothing from them. Does anybody have any different experience with them?
In this article above it says that this crook has to repay the $ 3 million he stole from us. Will Haddow likely be told to do the same thing? And if so who collects their money and how does this reach us (do they know who we are?)
Any advice or opinion welcomed. Thank you
Hi, I too have an investment claim with Bar Works, I have a contact at the SEC but each time I contact him for an update he advises only what we already know and says that if any money is to be distributed to claimants then it will be listed on their website under http://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/claims.htm… given that he has only just be ordered to pay back us investors, how long do these things actually take ?
@Linda – The press release about Gata Aura’s sentencing states that, “The Court will also enter a restitution order at a later date.” In other words, the Court will (at some point in the future) order Gata-Aura to reimburse victims.
The judgement against Gata-Aura is available here (entry 123). I’m not a legal expert, but the ruling states that the court will determine restitution on 27 October 2020:
Thanks Chris
I indeed flew from Nigeria to meet with Sam Aura an TAHYIRA S. CORDNER at the Barworks, New York to make this investment. I’m from Nigeria Unfortunately, I invested 200kUSD in two tranches of 100kUSD. I’m also a victim of this scam like all the other investors. I filed a complaint with the SEC, but to this day I haven’t received a response. Please any information as to recovery of invested funds etc in this forum would be highly appreciated.
Best regards
I found a blog written by Sam Aura. It shares a lot of insights about the Bar Work scheme. Might be worth of reading. Check this link — https://slicesmakealoaf.com/barworks-my-most-important-mistake/
i am from Italy, i also filed a complain with the SEC about one year ago (i sent them all the papers that demonstrate my investment), no response but since september i ve been contacted by the US department of justice because they said i have been identified as a Victim of BarWorks etc… (i guess through my SEC complain). They are just keeping me informed about the prosecution, sentences etc regarding the people involved in this scam, they didn’t talked very much about restitution, but at least they identify me as a victim.
I am Pradeep Pandian and i received email from Sec asking me to submit details of tbe lease agreement and mu cureent postal address to confirm that i am a victim of this scam. I sent all tbe dicumrnts plus the lease agreement. Thats all for now. I launched a complaint with sec in 2017
I also received an email from SEc asking me to provide details of my investment, dates, email correspondents, hopefully there is some action going on. I filed a complaint with Sec in 2017 after the scam.
I have also received email from SEC and a call back when I tried to call them.. hopefully things are moving forward but I got the impression that our details are being collected for information only at this stage.
I have also been contacted by the SEC and I have also called them. They are currently trying to sell the assets of Renwick Haddow to pay back the investors. But it may still take a long time.
I think who we need to be more concerned with here is Mr. Renwick Haddow. He raised over $36 million and tried to flee the country and has still not been sentenced and is a free man! This was also not his first rodeo. He was involved in a Bitcoin scheme prior to this. He is the one who owned the company and should be responsible for paying all the money back! His sentencing keeps getting delayed/adjourned . He is do to appear for sentencing on 1/22/21. I have also read the link by Sam Aura and would suggest checking it out— https://slicesmakealoaf.com/barworks-my-most-important-mistake/
@Erin – Thanks for this. There’s a post about Renwick Haddow’s involvement in Bar Works here, with lots of discussion in the comments following the post:
Haddow’s sentencing has just been delayed again for three months. You can see the court documents here.
Hi Erin, I was of the understanding that Renwick Haddow was being dealt with by the UK through the FCA for other matters and by the time they have recouped that money there would be little or nothing left for any other cases against him. He is in custody.