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Convicted NWA Developer Ordered To Pay $450,000 Restitution

FORT SMITH (KFSM) – The former Northwest Arkansas developer convicted in a $200 million fraud scheme was ordered to pay $450,000 restitution, according to...
brandon barber handcuffs 2

FORT SMITH (KFSM) – The former Northwest Arkansas developer convicted in a $200 million fraud scheme was ordered to pay $450,000 restitution, according to court documents.

Brandon Barber, 38, of New York pleaded guilty in October 2014 to conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud and money laundering. He was sentenced to 65 months with three years of supervised release.

On Jan. 21, Judge P.K. Holmes ordered Barber to pay back $450,000 restitution, officials said. This is significantly less than the $16.19 million that the government requested, documents state.

The government originally sought restitution of $7,470,740 to Legacy National Bank in Springdale, $8,178,255 to Enterprise Bank in St. Louis and $550,000 to First Federal Bank in Fayetteville, according to court documents.

Court documents state that for multiple reasons, “the court finds the government has failed to show by a preponderance of the evidence that Barber engaged in conduct that directly and proximately caused losses to Legacy or Enterprise. The court will not, therefore, order Barber to pay restitution to either [bank].”

With regards to First Federal Bank, Barber’s co-defendent Jeff Whorton was ordered to pay $100,000, and Barber was ordered to pay the remaining $450,000, according to court documents.

Barber has been ordered to pay the full amount immediately, and if he is unable to, he is to pay the amount in quarterly installments at a rate of at least 10 percent of the funds available to him during incarceration, officials said.

After he serves his sentence, payment of any unpaid restitution will become a special condition of supervised release, with any remaining balance to paid in monthly installments of 10 percent of Barber’s net monthly household income, according to court documents.

To view the full restitution order, click here. 

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