An Orange County man, Brett Barber, 44, admitted to running two investment scams focused on real estate deals that scammed millions of victims. Barber, a former co-owner of Newport Beach firms BNZ Capital One LLC and National American Capital, pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of criminal contempt, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California.
From May 2019 to October 2021, according to Barber's plea agreement, he was engaged in two fraudulent ventures aimed to defraud investors. First, BNZ Capital and its affiliates falsely claimed to engage in real estate transactions, promising "guaranteed" returns of 8% to 10% and potential additional bonuses. The truth, however, was far from this.
While some investments were indeed made in real estate by BNZ Capital, no significant steps were taken towards property development or profitable trading. Funds were chiefly funneled towards paying Barber, co-conspirator Louis Zimmerle, and other associates, including the purchase of residential properties for them.
These scams resulted in the solicitation of around $13.8 million from investors, with losses currently estimated at roughly $7 million. Barber profited to a tune of $2,933,970, leaving numerous elderly victims in significant financial distress.
In a twist of fate, Barber started another scam with a company he formed in January 2021, National American Capital (NAC), after learning of a federal investigation into BNZ Capital. Similar to the initial scam, Barber and his marketers continued fooling investors about their investments' purpose. They were led to believe their money was being used for real estate projects that never existed.
In October 2021, Barber met with an undercover law enforcement official, whom he believed to be a prospective investor. He spun numerous falsehoods in this meeting revolving around NAC's business history and land ownership in Laguna Beach and a supposed property in Newport Beach.
The second scam resulted in losses of about $3.5 million. Barber admitted receiving and pocketing at least $388,669 without disclosing to investors that he had previously been barred from broker-dealer associations by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Following his federal grand jury indictment in October 2021, Barber was released on bond. However, he violated the terms of his pretrial release, leading to his arrest in Santa Cruz County in March 2023. Barber's sentencing is scheduled for March 4, 2024, where he could face 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count and life imprisonment for the criminal contempt count.
His accomplice, Louis Zimmerle, pled guilty in January 2022 to one count of wire fraud related to the BNZ Capital scam. He pocketed approximately $582,815 from investors, and his sentencing is scheduled for January 22, 2024. In October 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil lawsuit against Barber, Zimmerle, and BNZ Capital for raising over $13 million fraudulently from over 100 retail investors. The FBI continues the investigation, with assistance from SEC.
