Five men involved in Northwest Arkansas real-estate transactions have been indicted on federal charges accusing them of participating in several schemes to defraud banks, creditors and the federal bankruptcy court, U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge announced Wednesday in Fort Smith.
The five are former developer Brandon Barber, 37, of New York; Fayetteville attorney K. Vaughn Knight, 46; New York attorney James Van Doren, 37; Jeff Whorton, 45, of Johnson and Brandon Rains, 31, of Springdale.
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A 2011 story found Barber waiting tables in Manhattan, unsure how to repay $54 million debt.
The two indictments contain 30 charges of bank fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office.
Eldridge said Barber was arrested Wednesday by the FBI in New York City and was to have an initial appearance before a federal judge in Manhattan Wednesday afternoon. He said the other defendants are to answer a summons to appear in federal court in Fayetteville on April 15.
According to the news release the indictment, Barber, Knight and Van Doren worked to conceal assets from the court and creditors during Barber's bankruptcy proceedings.
Another indictment charges that Barber, Whorton and Rains misrepresented the sales prices of property to get bigger loans and generate cash, according to the news release.