LUBBOCK and AMARILLO, Texas — The former Chief Financial Officer of Reagor Dykes, Shane Andrew Smith, was charged by federal prosecutors in Amarillo on June 12 with felony conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Smith accepted a plea deal Tuesday afternoon. The deal, if approved by a federal judge, would subject Smith to as much as 20 years in federal prison.
The plea deal also holds Smith responsible for $50.1 million of restitution.
There is a record of Smith being booked into the Potter County Jail and a federal judge set conditions for his release pending the outcome of his criminal case.
The criminal charge said Smith committed “floor plan” fraud. A floor plan is a particular kind of loan for auto dealerships that covers a list of vehicles. The criminal complaint said “[Reagor Dykes] staff would retrieve files from old car deals and submit the … [VIN numbers] … as though [Reagor Dykes] were buying the vehicles against when in fact it was not.”
In other words, Reagor Dykes borrowed money through its floor plan on vehicles it did not actually have. The complaint said the FBI looked at six sample transactions related to Reagor Dykes operations in Amarillo.
The criminal complaint said, “The actual loss amount for the floor plan fraud is approximately $27,019,211.02.”
The complaint also accused Smith of check kiting – which is a way of manipulating checking accounts to make it look like money is available when it is not.
The complaint talks about “employees” of Reagor Dykes, but only Smith was specifically named.
“Smith and his co-conspirators electronically transmitted via interstate wire communication fraudulent flooring requests from [Reagor Dykes] locations in Texas to [Ford Motor Credit Company] in Michigan,” the complaint said.
In late July 2018, Ford sued Lubbock-based Reagor Dykes with allegations of fraud and default. Reagor Dykes on August 1 filed for bankruptcy.
