Newport Beach man who posed as lawyer to defraud clients sentenced

A Newport Beach man was sentenced Friday morning for posing as an attorney to defraud clients through debt consolidation and mortgage modification schemes.

James Frank Barker, 61, was sentenced to a four-year execution of sentence suspension, meaning that Barker will be on probation for three years. If he violates probation, he will be headed to state prison for four years. Last year, Barker pleaded guilty to more than 20 felony charges that include grand theft, money laundering derived from criminal activity and forgery.

Barker was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of petty theft.

He initially pleaded not guilty at the time of his arrest in 2017.

Prosecutors said Barker posed as an attorney between December 2013 and July 2015 to solicit clients with promises of consolidating their debts and lowering their mortgage payments through loan modifications. None of these services were performed and Barker is said to have not provided refunds after failing to do so.

During that time, prosecutors said Barker collected a total of $45,600 from three pairs of clients and failed to notify their creditors that he would be representing them.

An investigation into Barker began in 2015 after the Orange County district attorney’s office received a tip from an attorney representing two of Barker’s clients.

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