LUBBOCK, Texas — A federal judge on Friday ordered Bart Reagor to pay Ford Motor Credit Company “all of the dealership’s obligations” for his part in the failed Reagor Dykes Auto Group and related companies.
Rick Dykes in April agreed to settle out of court with Ford for $58.7 million.
Friday’s order did not specify a dollar figure but presumably it would be a similar amount for Reagor as compared to Dykes.
The Reagor Dykes companies began filing a long list of bankruptcy cases starting on August 1, 2018. In the days beforehand, Ford accused Reagor Dykes of default and fraud. Ford accused Reagor Dykes of manipulating vehicle sales records to make it look like payments were not due to Ford when, really, they were.
Additionally, at least three Lubbock banks accused Reagor Dykes of a particular form of fraud called check kiting. Kiting is a way of making an account look like it has money when in reality the money is not available.
Before Dykes settled, Reagor and Dykes had argued in court records that Ford participated in some of the bad things that happened at Reagor Dykes. If true, that would mean that Reagor and Dykes were not still responsible for a written personal guaranty.
On Friday, the judge made it very clear, he was not buying the idea that Ford lost its rights under the guaranty. The judge said in his order that there are no genuine issues of fact that would prevent Ford from getting its money back.
Ford has until June 3 to list the amount of money Reagor owes. Reagor then has 14 days to object to the specific dollar figure.
