Strip Mall Investor Gets 5 Years for Scam With Fake WeWork Bid

A former strip mall mogul was sentenced to five years in prison for orchestrating a fake WeWork Inc.takeover bid to profit from stock options he bought just before the company’s November 2023 bankruptcy filing.

Jonathan Larmore, sentenced on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, was convicted of fraud in October following a weeklong trial — though he bungled the scheme and never reaped a profit.

The US had asked US District Judge Paul Engelmayer to give Larmore to 7 1/4 to 9 years in prison, the same amount called for by federal guidelines, saying he had launched a “brazen ...