Attorney David Fisher Indicted in Barber Case
Bentonville attorney David Fisher has been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, Conner Eldridge, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced Thursday.
According to a press release issued by Eldridge’s office, Fisher was instrumental in former Fayetteville developer Brandon Barber’s scheme to obtain bank loans in excess of the actual value of the property those loans were obtained to purchase.
Fisher, 38, was added to the original indictment, handed down in January, that in addition to Barber listed Brandon Rains and Jeff Whorton as defendants.
Fisher, Barber, Rains and Whorton have all been summoned to appear at the federal courthouse in Fayetteville for arraignment at 11 a.m. Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin L. Setser.
Barber, currently living in New York City, will appear in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith on September 16 and October 21 to stand trial on 27 charges of fraud and money laundering from two separate indictments.
Fisher, according to the Eldridge statement, made false and fraudulent representations to First Federal Bank, and prepared agreements between the defendants detailing how the excess funds would be divided among them.
Reached Thursday on his mobile phone, Fisher was told that he had been indicted by the federal grand jury in Fort Smith. He paused for a moment, and then said, “I’ve got to go, man,” and hung up.
Fisher also represents the estate of former developer Gary Combs, who died in August from prostate cancer.