British tycoon is on the run from US over ‘bitcoin fraud’

A BRITISH businessman is on the run from US authorities after being accused of a multi-million pound bars and bitcoin fraud.

Renwick Haddow allegedly made up fictional board members at businesses in New York, raising nearly £30m from customers and investors.

It is claimed the 48-year- old then funnelled at least £14m into accounts in 40 countries.

Haddow’s business Bitcoin Store promised to help investors buy online currency with stellar returns. Its literature claimed the firm was run by Gordon Phillips, a former head of currency trading at HSBC, and Joseph Bilkhorn, once finance chief at Credit Suisse.

But neither existed, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said claims the business had quarterly sales of £4.3m were also untrue.

Haddow’s second business, Bar Works, claimed to run shared offices at converted bars in New York and San Francisco, and pledged to generate a return of 15pc. He is said to have adopted the alias Jonathan Black to run the company, claiming he was previously a director of two British bar chains and had secured £386,000 from a Silicon Valley investor.

Haddow allegedly made up the fake board members to hide his past from investors. He was banned as a director in Britain in 2008 for misleading announcements at his business Branded Leisure, which left investors nursing losses of £500,000.

He was then taken to court by the Financial Conduct Authority in 2014 over claims he ran sham investment schemes.

The High Court will decide in the next few weeks whether Haddow’s company made misleading statements.

Andrew Calamari, director of the SEC’s New York office, said: ‘Haddow created two trendy companies and misled investors into believing that highly qualified executives were leading them to quick profitability.’