Bart Reagor found guilty of making false statement to bank, reports say

Bart Reagor, co-principal of the Reagor Dykes Auto Group in Texas that went bankrupt in 2018 amid accusations of widespread floorplan fraud, was found guilty Friday by a federal jury of one count of false statement to a bank, according to local media reports.

It was one of three counts Reagor faced as part of the trial, which began earlier this week.

Reagor was indicted by a federal grand jury last spring on two counts of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a bank insured by the FDIC.

A 12-person jury, which began deliberating Thursday, found him guilty Friday afternoon of only the count of making a false statement to a bank, but not guilty on the bank fraud charges, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

Reagor was accused of diverting more than $1.7 million of a $10 million commercial loan from International Bank of Commerce to his personal bank account, which was prohibited by the loan agreement.

Reagor's Lubbock, Texas-based auto group imploded in 2018 after Ford Credit and other lenders sued it for floorplan fraud. Ford Credit in particular said Reagor Dykes, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the day after the initial suit, sold more than 1,100 vehicles without repaying $41 million to fund their acquisition.

In separate legal action related to the group's operations, 15 Reagor Dykes employees have pled guilty to various fraud charges and are awaiting sentencing, including Shane Smith, the group's CFO, who has reportedly admitted to orchestrating floorplan fraud and check-kiting schemes at the dealer group. Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in June 2019. He awaits sentencing.