The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has obtained a final judgment against James Robinson.

The judgment, signed by Judge Lorna G. Schofield of the New York Southern District Court on April 9, 2025, brings to a close to lawsuit that was launched in December 2022.

Robinson is permanently restrained and enjoined from violating, directly or indirectly, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) [15 U.S.C. § 78j(b)] and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5], 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 to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud.

The defendant is liable for disgorgement of $263,000.13, representing net profits gained as a result of the conduct alleged in the SEC’s omplaint, together with prejudgment interest thereon in the amount of $116,809.94, for a total of $379,810.07. Defendant’s $379,810.07 payment obligation is deemed satisfied by the $7,499,000.00 Order of Restitution entered against Defendant in the criminal case before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Back in December 2022, the SEC filed charges against James Robinson and David Kennedy in connection with an investment scheme that defrauded investors out of more than $57 million. The SEC previously charged the principal of the scheme and associated entities with securities fraud.

The SEC alleged that between approximately September 2015 and July 2016, Robinson and Kennedy raised over $7.5 million from over 100 investors in the fraudulent scheme. The complaint further asserts that Robinson and Kennedy recruited a network of sales agents to sell investments in co-working spaces operated by Bar Works, Inc. and Bar Works 7th Avenue, Inc. using false and misleading offering materials.

According to the SEC’s complaint, the materials falsely 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 complaint, Robinson and Kennedy knew that “Black” was fictitious, that Haddow secretly ran the Bar Works companies, and that Haddow had previously been charged by the United Kingdom’s securities regulator for an unrelated investment scheme.

In return for their roles in the Bar Works scheme, Robinson and Kennedy, through a company they jointly owned called United Property Group, received at least $2 million from Haddow and the Bar Works companies.