Monday, December 05, 2005
Missouri Real Estate Entrepreneur Convicted
Barber Guilty of Conspiracy
A Missouri real estate entrepreneur was convicted by a federal trial jury for orchestrating a property flipping scheme and mortgage fraud conspiracy.
Brent Michael Barber, 41, of Belton, Missouri, was found guilty for his role in a conspiracy to defraud two mortgage lending companies of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Brent Barber manipulated people, took advantage of those who were vulnerable, and used deceit to enrich himself at the expense of others,” said Todd P. Graves, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. “He forged documents and lied on loan applications in an unsuccessful property-flipping scheme, and with this jury verdict, he is being held accountable for his unlawful actions.”
Following the presentation of evidence in Barber’s trial, the jury in U.S. District Court deliberated for approximately six hours before returning its verdict in the trial that began on November 28, 2005.
Barber was found guilty of charges contained in an October 7, 2004, federal indictment. Co-defendant Vernon David Williams, 58, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud on July 18, 2005.
Barber was involved in the business of buying and selling real estate, and did business under the names KC Properties and KC Securities LLC. Williams was a loan employee of mortgage brokerage companies in Merriam, Kansas and Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
The jury found that Barber conspired with Williams to defraud MILA, Inc., a mortgage lending company with its principal office in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, and Finance America LLC, a mortgage lending company with its principal office in Irvine, California, from July 24, 2004, to September 16, 2004.
As part of that conspiracy, Barber and Williams attempted to borrow $285,000 from MILA in connection with the fraudulent purchase of a duplex at 3741 Locust in Kansas City, Missouri. In furtherance of the conspiracy, Barber created a trust in the name of the true owner in order to conceal the additional transfer (the “flip”) of the property on the day of closing for a greater price, knowing that MILA would not have approved the loan if it had known the seller acquired the property the same day it sold the property.
“If his plan had gone as he hoped,” Graves said, “he would have made a $40,000 profit. The fact that he didn’t get away with it, doesn’t expunge his criminal behavior.”
Barber and Williams prepared and provided material false, fraudulent and misleading loan applications and other documents regarding the loans.
“Barber created a phony trust to conceal the fact that he was flipping property – buying low then immediately selling at a profit to a person who was unemployed and couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage,” Graves said. “He knew the mortgage firm wouldn’t approve the transaction, so he tried to conceal it behind false and fraudulent documents.”
In addition to the fraudulent purchase of the property at 3741 Locust, the jury also found Barber guilty of his involvement in a second fraudulent real estate transaction in August 2004, in which he and Williams attempted to receive a $158,251 loan from Finance America on behalf of another person to purchase property at 1013 Brookside Drive, Raymore, Missouri.
Barber was found guilty of submitting a fraudulent loan application that contained false employment and income information. Rent checks were provided as proof that the proposed borrower had paid rent for the last several months. The submissions were each sent in the form of a facsimile transmission and a wire transfer, Graves said. Williams admitted that he and Barber both participated in the wire transfer, which ultimately caused Finance America to fund the loan by having the money sent from Deutsche Bank Trust Co. to United Missouri Bank in Kansas City on August 18, 2004.
Under federal statutes, Graves explained, Barber may be subject to a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $1 million. Williams may be subject to a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $500,000.
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Trial coverage provided by Anne Mitchell, Crazy Fish Realty.
F. Jeffrey Miller Update - October 20, 2009
A hearing was held in Topeka, Kansas in front of Judge Julie Robinson. Miller is currently being held pending his sentencing which is set for December 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.. Steve Vanatta and Hallie Irvin, Miller's codefendants, will be sentenced at that time also.
Several motions were heard this week. One was a motion for Miller to be released pending his sentencing. Miller's attorney, Jeff Morris, argued that the court had dismmissed with predjudice the matter involving Miller's purchase of a commercial lawnmower, violating the court ordered monitoring agreement. He also argued that Miller was not a flight risk and should be released. This motion was denied.
Another motion heard by Judge Robinson was that of an escrow account containing proceeds from the sale of Miller's forfeited assets. This account has a balance of $143,000. Attorney Morris argued that his firm was due $100,000 for work done in the Miller matter, to date. The government argued that his 'un-itemized fees' were 'exhorbitant'. The balance of the funds, Morris argued, should be released to the Miller family to help pay for mounting household expenses.
The government argued that the 'Asset Forfeiture Provision' applies down to 'the last penny' and that 'the rights of the victims to made whole are of paramount immportance' and that no routine household expenses like Visa bills, are allowed.
Attorney Morris argues that there is more than enough assets to satisfy the jury's judgement of $2.65 million dollars. The government argues that the estimated value of his assets are only $1.4 million.
The government also stated that Miller has been paid dividends from a company Miller has an ownership interest in; Boreflex. From July, 2008 to present, Miller has been paid $330,509.30 from Boreflex, unbeknownst to the court appointed monitor.
Present in the courtroom was Todd Earnshaw. Earnshaw was indicted along with Miller and others in what is commonly referred to as 'Miller I'. That trial is scheduled to begin on January 11, 2010 in Topeka, Kansas.
More Trial Coverage
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Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of 
