Barber associate enters court plea

Helped hide $64,000, he says

FORT SMITH - A man accused of helping former Northwest Arkansas developer Brandon Barber hide $64,000 from creditors pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Friday to a charge of money laundering.

James Van Doren, 37, of New York City admitted before U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III that Barber signed over a $64,000 check to him in September 2008 and that he gave $22,000 of that money back to Barber a month later by a bank transfer.

Holmes questioned Van Doren in detail before accepting his guilty plea to ensure Van Doren agreed that the $22,000 he sent to Barberwas from Van Doren’s bank account and that Barber had given him $64,000.

The government stated in a plea agreement signed by Van Doren that the scheme made it appear that the $64,000 belonged to Van Doren when, in fact, Van Doren was helping Barber hide the money from his creditors so Barber could use the money for his own benefit.

As part of the plea agreement, Van Doren agreed to forfeit to the government $22,000 as the “value of the property involved in the offense.”

Van Doren, who remains free on $25,000 bond, will be sentenced after a pre-sentence report is completed bythe court’s probation office. Holmes told him during the 30-minute hearing he could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison and fined up to $250,000.

Van Doren originally was charged with seven offenses in the 27-count indictment against him, Barber and Barber’s bankruptcy attorney K. Vaughn Knight of Fayetteville.

Van Doren was charged in the 2012 indictment with conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of money laundering. The charges grew out of Van Doren’s actions in helping Barber hide his assets.

The charges involved Van Doren accepting cash or bank transfers from Barber and putting them in his bank account, then transferring the money back to Barber, according to the indictment. In one instance, the government claimed, Barber delivered a briefcase containing $30,000 cash that Van Doren placed in a safe deposit box he controlled.

Barber, 37, faced fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and concealment of assets charges in the 2012 indictment, which accused him of providing false information to receive loans for development projects, then using some of the money for purposes other than the projects for which he borrowed the money.

He also was accused of hiding assets from creditors and the bankruptcy court so he could use the money for his own benefit, the indictment states.

Barber pleaded guilty before Holmes on July 31 to money laundering, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud. He is being held in the Washington County jail after U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Setser ruled he violated the terms of his bond for pretrial release. He has not been sentenced.

The conspiracy to commit bank fraud to which Barber pleaded guilty on July 31 was a charge brought against Barber in a four-count indictment filed in January against him, Jeff Whorton of Springdale and Brandon Rains of Fayetteville. David Fisher of Rogers was added to the case in June.

In that indictment, the four were accused of defrauding or conspiring to defraud First Federal Bankby taking out bank loans for more than they needed to purchase lots at Executive Plaza in Springdale and pocketing the excess money.

Whorton, who is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud, is scheduled for a change of plea hearing before Holmes at 1:30 p.m. Monday in federal court in Fort Smith.

Knight is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 16 in federal court in Fort Smith on 11 counts in the indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, bankruptcy fraud, false statements and aiding and abetting, six counts of money laundering and aiding and abetting, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Knight’s attorney has asked that the trial be delayed because of the complexity of the issues in the trial and the time needed to prepare, according to court records.

Rains and Fisher are scheduled to go on trial in federal court in Fort Smith on Oct. 21. Rains is charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud. Fisher is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 08/24/2013

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