Bar Works primarily sold leases coupled with sub-leases that together functioned like investment notes. The company also allegedly sold leases for more workspaces than actually existed in at least two locations.
Classic non-Bitcoin type of scam. The SEC sends people to jail for that sort of thing regularly.
>The SEC sends people to jail for that sort of thing regularly.
Not being pedantic here, just a side note. The SEC actually doesn't have the power to send people to jail. They can only file civil actions. In this case, a parallel (but separate) criminal action was filed by the US Attorney's office, which is the only entity that can bring federal criminal charges.
This is an important distinction, because the standard of proof is lower in civil cases, and there are SEC violations that simply aren't criminal in nature. Accordingly, most conduct that draws the ire of the SEC doesn't actually get criminally prosecuted, nor does all such conduct necessarily deserve it. There are many arcane securities laws (some dating back to the 1920's) that are easy to unintentionally violate.
Classic non-Bitcoin type of scam. The SEC sends people to jail for that sort of thing regularly.