Real estate agent accused of running $14 million house-flipping Ponzi scheme

[TexasTowelie]

An Costa Mesa man was arrested Thursday, Oct. 28 on suspicion of fraud and money laundering after he was accused of running a $14 million investment scheme, officials said.

Brett Barber, 42, was a co-owner of the Newport Beach-based BNZ Capital One which promoted investment opportunities for buying and flipping real estate and land development with a “guaranteed” return of between 8 percent and 10 percent, according to court documents.

Since 2019, BNZ did purchase some real estate, but primarily used investors money to pay associates involved with the scheme, purchase residences for Barber and his associate, and pay back earlier investment, the indictment alleges.

Barber also failed to disclose to investors that he was previously barred from acting as or associating with a broker-dealer by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 2012, according to the indictment.

Read more: https://www.ocregister.com/2021/10/29/real-estate-agent-accused-of-running-14-million-house-flipping-ponzi-scheme/

[bucolic_frolic]

1. barred from ... associating with a broker-dealer by FINRA

That's a new one on me. I've heard of barred from being in that occupation, but not from the freedom to do business with them. Must have been a hum-dinger