Vista Bank on Thursday filed new court documents in its ongoing lawsuit against FirstCapital Bank. The new documents included a portion of the August 13 deposition of Bart Reagor – co-owner of Reagor Dykes.
Related Story: Vista Bank submits new statement from Rick Dykes, new allegations against FirstCapital
Reagor Dykes filed for bankruptcy on August 1 amid allegations of fraud and default brought by Ford Motor Company.
During the deposition, a lawyer for Vista Bank asked Mr. Reagor, “What led to these bankruptcies?”
Mr. Reagor answered, “I am not going to answer that question at this time. I would like to, but he [my attorney] has advised me not to answer that at this time.”
The attorney for Vista then asked, “Are you asserting your Fifth-Amendment right?”
“I guess I am,” Reagor said.
The new Vista documents said FirstCapital loaned Bart Reagor just a little bit more than $1 million the day after Reagor Dykes filed for banktupcy.
The new documents also said FirstCapital loaned former Chief Financial Officer Shane Smith $395,900 on September 21, 2018. Smith was fired as the CFO of Reagor Dykes on August 1. Previous court documents accused Smith of providing false information on the true financial status of Reagor Dykes.
Smith was also questioned in a deposition on August 13. While Reagor answered a list of questions, Smith replied to almost every question with, “Upon the advice of counsel, I assert my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination”
The newest documents from Vista also indicated the FBI talked to at least five witnesses based on a February 27 sworn statement from Rick Dykes who is the other co-owner of Reagor Dykes.
Court records are not specific about the crime that the FBI was investigating. However, since August 1, multiple banks have accused Reagor Dykes of a particular form of fraud called check kiting. Check kiting is a way of trading checks back and forth between banks to make an account look like it has money even if it does not.
FirstCapital issued a press release on Thursday denying the allegations made by Vista Bank.
Related Stories: Reagor Dykes – extended coverage of the bankruptcy