A former Birmingham perfume salesman has been jailed over a world-wide property scam – and been ordered to pay back an astonishing £42m to his victims.
James Moore, who staged business seminars, sold flats and hired out office space in the city, has paid a heavy price for his grubby dealing.
At New York’s Southern District Court this week, the 60-year-old was sentenced to 11 years for his part in a business fraud that lured in 800 victims from around the globe.
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Moore, found guilty of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy back in 2019, was also ordered to forfeit £1.2m and pay back an astonishing £42m ($58m) to victims. He was also fined £50,000.
The severe punishment relates to the conman’s role in start-up business Bar Works, which offered companies hot-desking space in trendy bars and restaurants.
People from around the world ploughed cash in what the court described as a “Ponzi scheme on steroids”.
The business plan was simple: rinse the maximum amount of cash from investors before the business collapsed.
The crime has made headlines in America, but Stateside reports do not touch upon the trail of misery smooth-talking Moore left in the Midlands.
His has been a heady climb from sunbed and smellies salesman to global con-merchant. The fall has been even more dramatic.
In Birmingham Moore will be remembered for the glitzy gatherings he staged as head of Inside Track Seminars, launched in 2002.
The company specialised in buy-to-let investment. People paid £5,000 to take part in seminars – many staged in Birmingham – about investing in property.
Then they paid more to join a property club called Instant Access Properties. This was supposed to find them flats at bargain prices.
It was a flawed plan. Many of the flats were overpriced. The rents did not cover the costs of paying the mortgages.
Inside Track Seminars went into administration in April 2008, with debts of £11 million. Instant Access Properties went into administration in September, 2008.
For dentist Katherine Ross, the Birmingham seminar she attended in 2004 at a cost of £2,395 holds very painful memories.
Financial website This Is Money reported in 2007: “She then spent £8,200 to join Inside Track’s Platinum Club – plus a monthly fee of £119 – and understood this would give her a ‘hands-free’ property investment service. ‘I wasn’t looking to make a killing,’ says Katherine.”
Within three months she had bought four properties – one in Florida, two in Manchester and one in Sunderland. She paid thousands of pounds to Inside Track in “finder fees” and further thousands to solicitors, surveyors and mortgage brokers.
This Is Money added: “One of the first deals to complete was the two-bed flat in Sunderland. When she came to let it, expecting to receive £700 a month, her hopes were dashed by a local agent. The same happened with the Manchester flat. ‘The agents literally laughed,’ Katherine recalls.
“The surveyors she used to value the property and estimate potential rental yields were far too optimistic.
“With her monthly mortgage outgoings pushing her into financial difficulties, she complained to Inside Track.
After what Katherine describes as a nightmare period, Inside Track bought three properties from her for near what she paid for them – and left her with one in Manchester.”
In an email to Katherine, Inside Track said: “The volume of apartments on the market presents a challenge for landlords looking to rent or sell.”
It stressed it had refunded 67 per cent of the fees Katherine paid as a “goodwill gesture” and added: “We have no idea how Ross calculated her alleged loss, but we suspect she has included the deposits she paid on reserving these units.”
Moore, now based in America, was not done with Birmingham. In 2016, he launched “co-working space investment scheme” OurSpace, based in Dubai, sold leases on virtual workspaces and attracted £22million from investors.
It offered “projects” in Birmingham, Dubai, Marbella, New York and Miami.
It has no links to a lease company currently operating under the same name.
Moore’s CV also includes Room to Invest, a company, launched in 2009, which sold fractional interests in hotels.
He had fingers in many, many pies. But it was Bar Works, set-up with fellow shamed property mogul Renwick Haddow, that proved the real breadwinner.
Haddow, aged 51, fled to Morocco when the scam was exposed. He was arrested in Tangiers and extradited to the US in 2018, where he is in prison awaiting sentencing.
Not surprisingly, Haddow masked his real name in Bar Works marketing material in which he went under the guise Jonathan Black.
Bar Works co-working spaces were rented out with an annual membership fee and investors were told they would receive an annual return of 14 to 16 per cent.
In reality, Bar Works instead repaid earlier investors from new deposits in a classic Ponzi scheme model. It was robbing Peter to pay Paul.
“James Moore partnered with notorious fraudster Renwick Haddow to design a massive Ponzi scheme that lured hundreds of unsuspecting investors from around the world,” said US Attorney Damian Williams on Tuesday.
“Moore and affiliated companies siphoned 65 percent of each of their recruited victims’ investments.
“Moore then obstructed justice and lied about the scheme to federal agents. Today’s lengthy sentence sends a clear message that perpetrators of investment fraud will be prosecuted and held accountable.”
Mr Williams added: “Moore did not stay for the collapse. He collected $1.6 million before starting over with a copy-cat co-working space investment project,” said Mr Williams.
“Far from being deterred by Haddow’s history, Moore saw the opportunities for massive profits and sought to join him.
“And despite it being obvious from the beginning that Bar Works could only sustain itself with new investors’ money, Moore did not hesitate to expand the Ponzi scheme and later to copy the idea.”
This week, federal prosecutors emphasised the pain Moore had brought to those who bought into his pie-in-the-sky schemes.
”The defendant’s decision to join the scheme was not a one-time mistake or a fleeting lapse in judgment,” they said.
“Time and time again, Moore made conscious choices to continue to facilitate frauds on countless individual victims, and to cover up his fraud with lies and deception.
“The defendant stole from hundreds of real people and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage. His sentence should reflect the reality of the pain he caused.”
Moore is appealing the order to pay back close to $58million, with his legal team stating $7.5million is a more realistic figure.
James Moore’s links with Birmingham are strong.
In 2011, he acted quickly – and publicly – to distance himself from emails sent by two “get rich quick” property schemes.
“Forget nine-to-five day jobs for ever,” they claimed. “Work four to six hours per week, not 46.”
Promotions from both companies enticed punters with the pledge of 100 per cent mortgages or “no money down”.
Another pledged: “Make your life a holiday! 100 per cent mortgages are Alive and Well! No cash deposits are Alive and Well!”
A follow-up email for those who expressed interest was signed by James Moore.
He claimed his account had been hacked – and a statement was given by his Birmingham lawyer.
The statement read: “My client is horrified to see that his name and email address have apparently been misused.
“He is taking up his concerns with the appropriate authorities. He denies any interest in or involvement.
“Mr Moore lives overseas and has no business interests in Britain.”
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