Fraudster Real Estate Investor Who Stole From Elderly Sentenced to 181 Months
A federal court sentenced Brett Barber of Costa Mesa, Calif., to 181 months in prison for running fraudulent real estate schemes, targeting mostly senior citizens. Photo credit: Alignable.
Thanks to these frauds, Barber raised more than $17 million by promising investors returns of around 10% that would be generated through real estate deals that fell through, according to a Justice Department press release. He also ignored a court order to surrender to authorities after violating the terms of his release before the trial.
Barber pleaded guilty in October 2023 to two counts of wire fraud and one count of criminal contempt, according to a plea agreement obtained by The Daily Muck.
House-Flipping Scheme
Court documents state that, from May 2019 to October 2021, Barber was the main organizer of two schemes used to defraud victim investors out of their money and property.
In the first scheme, according to Barber’s indictment, BNZ Capital, along with its principals and several marketers, raised money by falsely representing that the firm “bought and sold real estate projects and ‘flipped’ real estate.”
With the help of Louis Zimmerle, a 65-year-old man from Sacramento, Calif., Barber falsely promised a guaranteed return of 8-10%, along with potential bonuses in the case of a successful deal. Zimmerle and Barber claimed these were safe investments and the funds would be FDIC-insured.
They weren’t.
And they didn’t even develop the land parcels to flip them for profit, say prosecutors. Instead,
Barber, Zimmerle and other participants of the scheme used that money to fund their own luxury lifestyles. This way, they managed to get around $13.8 million from victim investors, with actual losses estimated at around $7 million.
Court documents also state that Barber received and kept approximately $2,933,970.
Caused Vulnerable People Even More Hardship
At least five investors were senior citizens who were described as vulnerable and who suffered significant hardship because of this fraud.
Upon learning that BNZ Capital is under investigation, Barber started a second company, National American Capital, in January 2021. It operated the same way BNZ Capital did, according to the indictment. Barber’s elaborate investment fraud came crashing down when he met with a prospective investor who was an undercover law enforcement official.
Zimmerle pleaded guilty in January 2022 to one count of wire fraud for his participation in fraud and was sentenced to five year’s probation, along with a $10,000 fine and an order to pay $684,500 in restitution.
Official Comments
Martin Estrada, the prosecuting U. S. Attorney, said after the sentencing that Barber “enriched himself through a fraudulent investment scheme that solicited millions of dollars from retirement funds belonging to his victims, including older adults.”
“My office is committed to protecting vulnerable communities from fraud and other harms. Today’s sentence sends a message to victims that we are here to fight for them and hold con artists and other fraudsters accountable for their actions”, Estrada added.
Similar Cases
This is only the latest fraud targeting the elderly.
In October 2024, Morice Armani Brown was sentenced for his role in defrauding an elderly woman, as previously covered by The Daily Muck. He received 63 months in prison for running a fake lottery that defrauded people instead of enriching them.
Ogheneofejiro Godswill Uzokpa, a 28-year-old man from Nigeria, stole thousands of dollars in a so-called romance scheme, also covered by The Daily Muck. He stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from women in Illinois after befriending them online and pretending to fall in love with them.
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