Current Boss: Barber Hard-working and Family Guy

Contacted within days of Brandon Barber’s pleas of not guilty to 27 federal charges — ranging from bank fraud to money laundering — Bobby Hotaling described the former Northwest Arkansas developer as a focused, hard-working family guy and a nice fit with his fellow employees.

Hotaling is the founder, president and CEO of The Hotaling Group Insurance Services, the New York employer Barber named during his April 15 arraignment in federal court in Fayetteville. Barber’s disclosure to U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Setser was the first public mention of Barber’s employment status since he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette he was waiting tables in Manhattan in 2011.

“He is a hard-working guy that always seems to put in 1,000 [percent] effort,” Hotaling wrote in a recent email to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. “He is basically a marketing and client services/development [employee].”

Barber moved to New York in December  2010, not long after his personal bankruptcy petition was denied. He told the Democrat-Gazette the move was in order to be closer to his two children, but the distance from Northwest Arkansas has done little, if anything, to stanch the flow of troubles that are a result of his failed developments in the area.

Barber was arrested March 20 in New York, and was one of five co-defendants to appear before Setser in April. The others are K. Vaughn Knight, 46; James Van Doren, 37; Jeff Whorton, 45; and Brandon Rains, 32.

The five men, all currently free on bond, were named in two indictments totaling 30 charges. They are scheduled to appear June 17 before Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III in Fort Smith.

Hotaling founded the company that bears his name more than 15 years ago, according to its website, which offers a list of services that include life, disability, title, and property and casualty insurance, as well as business, retirement and estate planning. The website also includes information on insurance plans the firm offers specifically for athletes and entertainers.

At his April hearing, Barber, through his attorney, Asa Hutchinson III, said he is interested in obtaining a real estate license. U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge of Arkansas’ Western District objected to the idea of Barber obtaining a license, based on the nature of the charges he currently faces.

Setser said the parties would confer if Barber does, indeed, obtain a license.

Hotaling indicated in an email response to a series of questions that he is only partially aware of Barber’s case.

“I am not 100 [percent] sure of the overall charges as of yet against Brandon and we are looking into them currently,” he wrote.

Attorneys Lance Cox and Chadd Mason, on behalf of Van Doren, meanwhile, have filed a motion for an order to direct the government to file a bill of particulars in connection with the indictment involving their client.

“If a defendant believes that an indictment does not provide enough information to prepare a defense, he or she may move for a bill of particulars,” the brief in support of their motion states.

Van Doren is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, one count of bankruptcy fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to the brief, however, the indictment containing the charges “omits any indication as to the locations at which this defendant’s alleged offenses occurred, the manner or means by which the alleged conspirators communicated and otherwise formed their agreement, and the dates on which this defendant is alleged to have entered into each of the alleged conspiracies.”

Van Doren’s attorneys also have challenged the generic reference to “illegal activity” in four of the seven counts against their client.

“The defendant cannot possibly prepare for trial without knowing what the government contends was the specific illegal activity or activities from which the monies vis-a-vis said counts were allegedly derived,” the brief states.