House Flip Scams: OC Man Stole Millions From Vulnerable Investors, Officials Say

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A Costa Mesa man was sentenced Monday to over 15 years in prison after scamming vulnerable and elderly investors out of millions of dollars with a pair of real estate schemes, authorities said.

Brett Barber, 45, a former co-owner of the Newport Beach-based BNZ Capital One LLC and National American Capital, was sentenced to 181 months in federal prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Barber pleaded guilty in October 2023 to two counts of wire fraud and one count of criminal contempt, authorities said. A restitution hearing was set for Jan. 9.

“There may not have been bloodshed, but this was real violence,” Judge Otis Wright II said at Monday’s hearing. “[The defendant] knew these people were in their golden years, and he just took it all.”

From May 2019 to October 2021, Barber participated in two schemes to defraud investors, according to the department. He was previously barred from acting as or associating with a broker-dealer by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, officials said.

In the first scheme, BNZ Capital falsely claimed to buy, flip and sell real estate, authorities said. Barber, co-conspirator Louis Zimmerle and marketers promised investors a guaranteed return of 8-10 percent, plus potential bonuses, according to the department, which said Barber told investors their funds were safe and FDIC insured.

BNZ Capital did purchase some real estate but did not develop parcels or flip properties, authorities said. During the scheme, Barber, Zimmerle and the marketers solicited or caused to be transferred to BNZ Capital about $13.8 million from investors, with estimated losses from the scam of at least $7 million, according to the department.

Barber kept about $2.93 million in investor money, authorities said, noting at least five BNZ Capital investors were elderly and suffered substantial hardship because of the fraud.

After Barber learned federal officials were investigating BNZ Capital, he began a second scheme involving a company he formed in January 2021 called National American Capital that operated the same way, according to the department. The scam caused a loss of at least $3.5 million, and Barber kept at least $388,669 of investor money, authorities said.

In October 2021, Barber met with a person he believed was a prospective investor who was actually an undercover law enforcement official, according to the department, which added he was indicted by a federal grand jury later that month.

Also in October 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against Barber, Zimmerle and BNZ Capital for fraudulently raising more than $13 million from over 100 investors, according to the department, which said the litigation is pending.

Barber disobeyed a court order to surrender to U.S. marshals in January 2023 after violating the terms of his pretrial release, and he was arrested two months later in Santa Cruz County, according to the department.

Zimmerle pleaded guilty in January 2022 to wire fraud and was sentenced in June to five years’ probation, fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $684,500 in restitution, authorities said.