Brent Barber, Belton, Missouri will spend the remainder of his time awaiting trial in a jail cell. Although Barber was free on bail with three separate indictments pending, On May 20, 2005, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge John Maughmer ordered Barber into custody for violating the terms of his release.

As a condition of his release on bond, Barber was allowed to remain active in the real estate business but was required to allow a court-appointed monitor to access his financial accounts and real estate transactions. At a hearing May 20, 2005, prosecutors informed the judge of a transaction Barber allegedly engaged in during April. According to testimony, Barber persuaded a homeowner to sign over approximately $20,000 in excess proceeds after his home was auctioned off at a foreclosure sale. Although the judge did not make any express findings of fraud at the hearing, he revoked Barber’s bond for misrepresenting himself and failing to keep the monitor fully appraised of his activities.

In the three pending cases, Barber is accused of defrauding mortgage lenders and real estate buyers in a scheme that recruited "investors" to apply for real estate loans payable to Barber using inflated appraisals on dilapidated properties. Most of the properties were located east of Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. In total, the scheme allegedly involved approximately 223 loans worth $15M that were approved during 2000 and 2001.

It was also alleged that, in some cases, employees of mortgage companies assisted Barber in the scheme. Eariler this month two Ameriquest employees involved in the scheme plead guilty: Avonda Nicodemus and Chauncey Calvert, both of Kansas City, Missouri.

Barber faces a total of 133 counts in the three separate cases pending in federal court in Kansas City, Missouri. The charges include conspiracy, interstates transportation of money obtained by fraud and money laundering. The original indictment, including 62 counts, was filed on August 12, 2004. He was released on a $50,000 bond in October after a second indictment was lodged that included four additional counts. A third indictment alleging an additional 67 counts was lodged in February, 2005. Prosecutors recently filed a motion to consolidate the three cases into one.

In support of its motion to consolidate, the government argues that each of the three cases against Barber involves real estate and mortgage fraud, and the first and third involve a continuing pattern of conduct from 1999 through mid 2002.

In the first filed case, the conduct continued from May 1999 into December 1999. The scheme involved soliciting and obtaining individuals (victim-investors) to “lend” defendant Barber their credit by purchasing real estate and obtaining loans in the names of the ‘victim investors.’ Barber and others made false representations to induce the victim-investors to agree, including that Barber would obtain renters for the properties and sell the properties within a short period of time, that the victim-investors would pay no money or down payment for the properties, and that the victim-investors would have no financial or other obligations in connection with the properties; false loan applications and supporting documentation were prepared and submitted; inflated appraisals were prepared and submitted; and the loans were approved in reliance on the false and fraudulent representations. Co-defendants Chauncey Calvert and Avonda Nicodemus plead guilty and the remaining co-defendant, Roderick Criss, also has indicated a desire to plead guilty and cooperate against Barber.

The conduct alleged in the second filed case occurred in mid-2004 and continued until after the date of the first indictment. It involves two discreet transactions: the attempted purchase of 3741 Locust, Kansas City, Missouri, and the attempted purchase of 1013 Brookside Drive, Raymore, Missouri. Neither loan closed as the lenders discovered the frauds before closing. Many of the elements of the scheme in this case are the same as in the other cases: misrepresentations were made to the sellers and buyers; false loan applications and supporting documentation were prepared and submitted to the lenders regarding the borrowers’ financial conditions, and the lenders relied on the false information in approving the loans; and trusts were created in sound-alike-names to conceal the identity of the seller in subsequent flip sales. Co-defendant Vernon David Williams in that case has indicated a desire to plead guilty and cooperate against defendant Barber.

The third filed case is virtually identical to the first case although with different victim lenders. The conduct occurred between October 1999 and at least mid 2002, following immediately upon the conduct charged in the first filed case. The conduct started when the first lender victim discovered the fraud, forcing Barber and his coconspirators to move on to other lenders. Co-defendants Roderick Criss and Robert Beckley have both indicated a desire to plead guilty and cooperate against defendant Barber. Click here to view the third Indictment.