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Roseville man sentenced to nearly 9 years in prison for embezzling small family business

Robert Barnack was charged with embezzling $2 million from a family business while posing as its Chief Investment Officer.

ROSEVILLE, Calif. — A man suspected of embezzling more than $2 million from a small business in Roseville was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 9 years in prison.

Robert Barnack, 67, represented himself as a financial advisor for a family-owned agriculture business from 2012 to 2017 after initially presenting himself as a Chief Investment Officer for another company.

He did this to gain the family's trust, according to Placer County Sheriff's Office.

During his time there, Barnack allegedly provided false investment statements to the family while assuring it would be receiving high returns on the over $2 million of what was supposed investments for employee profit-sharing plans.

Over a five year period Barnack was instead using the company's investment funds for personal purchases such as cars, jewelry and college tuition, according to Placer County Sheriff's Office.

In 2017, employees that wanted to cash out on their investments, never received them and were only met with excuses.

Barnack was sued in federal court in 2018 for his scheme and ordered to pay out $2.5 million to the company for its losses. However after failing to make the required payments, the Roseville Police Department obtained a warrant for his arrest. 

In October 2022, Barnack plead guilty to felony fraud charges was sentenced to 8 years and 8 months in Placer County Prison, according to Placer County Sheriff's Office.

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