Barnack sentenced for $2M embezzlement scheme

Robert Barnack, 67, was sentenced Nov. 21 to eight years and eight months in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for his $2-million embezzlement scheme. Barnack served as the investment advisor for a local small, family-owned agriculture business, according to court documents. One of the company's many offerings was a profit-sharing plan for employees. In 2012, Barnack approached the business owners representing himself as the Chief Investment Officer of Balance Point Retirement Analytics LLC in Roseville, which has since been dissolved, according to the Placer County District Attorney's Office. Barnack assured the business owners that he could provide the profit-sharing plan a much higher return through purchasing corporate bonds which would have a higher return over time and eventually mature in 2017, according to court documents. Between 2012 and 2017, Barnack provided the business owner with account statements that reflected the high returns as promised. In 2017, the employees wanted to cash out their investments, yet when asked, the defendant avoided their requests and provided excuses, according to court documents. After numerous conversations and requests from the owners, Barnack had not returned any of the $2-million collected, according to court documents.. In 2018, Barnack's company was sued in federal court by the small business owners. During the legal proceedings, it was discovered that Barnack took the funds "invested" with his company to buy cars, jewelry, pay for college tuition and other personal items. Barnack also embezzled the money into another company he owned, according to court documents.. In 2019, the family business won a court judgment of $2.5-million from Barnack. Barnack made approximately two payments of $100,000 to them under the judgment. He then missed multiple payments over the course of months, according to the District Attorney's Office. The victim and owner of the business personally paid for his employees to be made whole in their employee profit-sharing plan, at the cost of them losing nearly everything, the District Attorney's Office said. After a three-year investigation, the Roseville Police Department secured a warrant in June, which led to Barnack's arrest by the U.S. Marshals in Los Angeles. He has been held since then in the South Placer County Jail. In September, the Placer County District Attorney filed state charges against Barnack for fraud and fraudulent intent to appropriate client money for his own personal use. In October, Barnack gave an open plea to two felony counts of fraudulent intent to appropriate funds as well as an enhancement alleging the taking of more than $500,000. The Placer County District Attorney's Office declined to make an offer in this case, requesting that the defendant be sentenced to the maximum exposure in this case. Judge Angus St. Evans sentenced Barnack to the maximum time in prison, calling his behavior "shameful." The Placer County District Attorney's Office wants residents to know that if a venture seems too good to be true, it probably is not legitimate. Residents can always verify a company's validity through the office's fraud hotline at 916-645-7226 or by checking the Better Business Bureau at 916-443-6843.