The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is getting closer to closing a fraud case targeting Savraj Gata-Aura, one of the co-conspirators of Ponzi scammer Renwick Haddow. This is indicated in a status report filed by the regulator with the New York Southern District Court earlier today.

On January 7, 2020, Gata-Aura pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a related criminal case. On June 27, 2020, Judge Rakoff sentenced Gata-Aura to 48 months in prison and entered on Gata-Aura’s consent a forfeiture judgment in the amount of approximately $2.9 million.

The SEC says that it has reached an agreement in principle with Gata-Aura to resolve the civil case, assuming entry of a restitution order in the criminal case. On December 10, 2020, Judge Rakoff entered a restitution order of $39,972,000.

The SEC counsel now anticipates seeking Commission authorization for the settlement, a process that typically takes five to six weeks. If the Commission authorizes the settlement in principle, the parties will promptly submit the proposed consent judgments to the Court for its consideration.

Let’s recall that, in May 2019, the SEC charged Savraj Gata-Aura and a company he controls, Core Agents Ltd., with aiding and abetting an investment scheme that defrauded investors of more than $30 million.

The SEC alleges that Gata-Aura recruited a network of sales agents to sell fraudulent investments in co-working spaces Bar Works, Inc. and Bar Works 7th Avenue, Inc. using false and misleading offering materials. The materials touted the background of Bar Works’ purported CEO, “Jonathan Black,” and omitted any mention of Renwick Haddow, the actual individual controlling the entities.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Gata-Aura knew that “Black” was a fictitious name for a person who did not exist, that Haddow secretly ran the Bar Works companies, and that Haddow had previously been sued in the United Kingdom by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority for an unrelated investment scheme.

The complaint further alleges that from September 2015 to June 2017, Gata-Aura and Core Agents raised over $10 million from at least 100 investors for the fraudulent investments. As alleged, in return for their role in selling the fraudulent investments, Gata-Aura and Core Agents received commissions that totaled at least $2.9 million from Haddow and the Bar Works companies.