Former Legal Compliance Director for Reagor-Dykes Auto Group Steven Reinhart has been sentenced after pleading guilty last year to charges related to check kiting and floor plan fraud.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk found exhibits and testimony presented, “are sufficient evidence for a rational jury” to conclude Reagor was guilty of making a false statement to the International Bank of Commerce.
Federal agencies and defense attorneys for Bart Reagor now have a new timeline to file documents related to Reagor’s sentencing for false statement to a bank, after the judge extended the date for Reagor’s sentencing hearing.
Federal prosecutors say there was “overwhelming evidence” supporting the jury’s decision to convict Bart Reagor of making false statement to the International Bank of Commerce, and he knew his plan to acquire and distribute proceeds from a business loan was “dishonest and wrong.”
Former Reagor-Dykes CFO Shane Smith and RDAG Legal Compliance Director Steven Reinhart, both witnesses in the trial for Bart Reagor, have new sentencing dates now set for January.
New documents from the defense team for Bart Reagor ask for acquittal from the judge on the charge Reagor was found guilty of in October, saying prosecutors did not adequately define or prove Reagor lied about the loan from the International Bank of Commerce.
“Here, Defendant offers nothing but speculation and conclusory supposition to facts that are common in jury trials... No jurors have come forward alleging misconduct by other jurors or outside persons,” U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk writes in his denial.
In response to Bart Reagor’s motion for his attorneys to interview the jurors post-verdict, the government says Reagor’s allegations fail to meet the “requisite evidentiary threshold for a post-verdict interview of the jurors,” and the court should deny the motion.
Bart Reagor’s defense attorneys want to interview the federal jury which convicted him. They claim there is evidence of external influence on its decisions.
Bart Reagor left an Amarillo Federal Courtroom with a partial acquittal on Friday afternoon. After a day and a half of deliberations, jurors issued their unanimous decision for Bart Reagor’s charges about 3:45 p.m.
Closing arguments began Thursday morning in Bart Reagor’s bank fraud trial at the Amarillo Federal Courthouse. As of 10:18 a.m., the case was handed to the jury. If he is convicted, he faces up to 90 years in federal prison.
During the second day of testimony in the bank fraud trial for Bart Reagor, the defense announced to U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk they will not call Rick Dykes as a witness, with no explanation given.
In opening statements the prosecution presented one of its key exhibits, an email from Bart Reagor to former RDAG Chief Financial Officer Shane Smith and RDAG co-owner Rick Dykes titled “handling capital.”
On Tuesday morning, at 8:19 a.m., opening statements began after the jury was called to the courtroom and was given instructions by the District Judge.
Jury selection began Monday morning for the former co-owner of the bankrupt Reagor-Dykes Auto Group trial. Bart Reagor is on trial for charges including bank fraud. Specifically, illegally keeping part of a business loan for himself.
The motion demanding records of that advice states bringing that up in trial would “delay the proceedings, require a lengthy recess, and inconvenience the court and the jury.”
Bart Reagor and his wife Annette have been ordered to pay $2,715,760, plus pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees and costs in the amount of $38,560 to Universal Underwriters Services Corporation.
Thirteen of the 15 former Reagor-Dykes Auto Group employees have now been sentenced to serve time in prison and are required to pay restitution monthly.
Fifteen former Reagor-Dykes Auto Group employees have pleaded guilty to various crimes involving “dummy flooring” and check kitting at the fallen auto giant. The first sentencings are set to happen on May 4, 2021 in Amarillo. The last will happen on July 27, 2021.
Since the company declared bankruptcy August of 2018, countless Reagor-Dykes customers have found themselves in a battle of their own with the auto group.
"We are certainly disappointed in the charges against Mr. Reagor. Nonetheless, we are confident he will be found Not Guilty for one simple reason: He is Not Guilty," said his attorney in a statement.
Reagor Dykes Auto Group owner Bart Reagor has been charged with lying about using business loans for personal expenses, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
On Thursday, Bart Reagor, 55, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank fraud. Prior to Mr. Reagor’s indictment, 15 of his employees pleaded guilty to various crimes involving dummy flooring and check kitting at Reagor-Dykes.
International Bank of Commerce is asking a Lubbock County Court to collect more than $23 million from four banks. It’s filed against Bart Reagor’s accounts at Lubbock National Bank, AIM Bank, Wells Fargo and Prosperity bank.
U.S. Marshals are commanded to collect the more than $49 million Bart Reagor owes Fort Motor Credit according to a Writ of Execution filed by Ford in Federal Court on Wednesday.
As part of the resolution of the Third Amended Chapter 11 Plan of Liquidation for Reagor-Dykes Auto Group, the Trustee is prepared to announce the chance for former Reagor-Dykes consumers to assert claims for compensation.
More than two years after the first claims against the Reagor Dykes Auto Group, legal action continues as the creditor’s trust for the bankrupt company filed a lawsuit claiming AimBank ignored warning signs of fraud.
Documents filed in Federal Court Thursday granted a settlement payment from General Motors, LLC, to Reagor Dykes Floydada for $84,684.14. A settlement previously agreed upon by both parties.
Businesses and individuals who were victims of fraudulent actions by employees of Reagor-Dykes Auto Group may be closer to receiving compensation after the third amended Chapter 11 liquidation plan was filed Tuesday.
Attorneys for the Reagor-Dykes Auto Group estate filed a motion late Monday morning claiming former CFO Shane Smith “cooked the books,” allowing him to take $527,076.81 commission payments he was not owed.
In a 33-page complaint filed Wednesday, the bankrupt auto group claims: “FMCC racked up millions in profits from interest that the Debtors paid and interest that consumers paid on vehicle deals that Reagor-Dykes originated.”
The plan will shut down the remaining business operations, sell off everything that is left, and will hand over the consumer issues to a creditors trustee and the consumer ombudsman. The plan also supports the settlement with Rick Dykes.
A motion for a proposed settlement submitted Thursday afternoon by Reagor-Dykes Motors, Rick Dykes and supported by the Texas Attorney General, would release Rick Dykes from all financial claims and/or causes of action in the Reagor-Dykes bankruptcy case.
Federal Bankruptcy Judge Robert L. Jones approved the $7.5 million settlement between Vista Bank and the Reagor-Dykes Auto Group bankruptcy estate in a hearing on Feb. 26, 2020.
In court documents filed Wednesday morning by a court appointed Special Litigation Counsel attorney for Reagor-Dykes estates, they claim FirstCapital “knowingly and intentionally participated in Shane Smith’s fraudulent schemes to defraud [Reagor-Dykes Auto Group] and their creditors.”
The court hearing that could have decided whether the Reagor Dykes estates stay in reorganization or are liquidated under Chapter 7 has been continued until March 24, 2020.
On the eve of a court hearing that may decide whether the Reagor Dykes estates stay in reorganization or are liquidated, new filings in the RDAG bankruptcy case by the Texas Attorney General reveal that Reagor Dykes has “resolved approximately 90 percent of the initial consumer issues.”
FirstCapital Bank of Texas asked a judge to end Reagor-Dykes reorganization plans on Wednesday, a move that would effectively force the dealership into liquidation.
