LUBBOCK, TX — Ford Motor Credit is facing intense scrutiny after new allegations the car giant is partially to blame for the fraud that brought down the Reagor Dykes Auto Group last year.
A new complaint filed Friday in a Lubbock federal court by IBC bank says, “Ford Credit breached its duty of care” to one of their creditors and may now be on the hook for $25.7 million.
The former chief financial officer for Reagor Dykes, Shane Smith, pleaded guilty to the massive fraud and is facing 20 years in prison for his actions.
Smith says he had help, and now Ford Motor Credit auditors are accused of tipping off Smith in advance.
The complaint says that, “advance information of the dates of the “surprise” audits was provided to Shane Smith and RDAG by individual(s) who were employees or other agents of Ford Credit.”
In the latest interview with Dolcefino Consulting, former dealership boss Bart Reagor pointed out Gary Byrd, Jr., the man in charge of financing Reagor Dykes for Ford Credit, was a close friend of Shane Smith.
“My CFO worked for Ford for 12 years. I mean, all those people that were in charge of those audits were his friends,” says Reagor.
Reagor’s former partner Rick Dykes once filed court papers alleging an RDAG employee was even having an affair with a Ford auditor responsible for reviewing financial records of the dealerships.
Just weeks before Ford closed the dealerships down, they were praising the auto group. “These results are fantastic and your entire organization should be commended for their hard work… We greatly appreciate you and value our partnership,” said an email from Gwen Schmucker of Ford Motor Credit.
Just weeks later, Ford filed a lawsuit alleging major fraud against Reagor Dykes.
Bart Reagor is now fighting back after almost a full year of silence. He says he had no idea that his CFO was committing fraud until it was too late.
“My goal at the end of this thing is to make sure that truth and justice is served on everybody that it needs to be served on,” says Reagor.
With the recent statements from Bart Reagor, and now a huge lawsuit from IBC, there is mounting evidence that Ford may have known a lot more about the financial activities.
It is time for Ford to answer some serious questions. A federal judge has scheduled a jury trial on the Ford lawsuit against Reagor in October.
See more on the Reagor-Dykes collapse and bankruptcy here:
- Bart Reagor Names Names on Eve of Important Court Date (7/10/2019)
- WATCH: The Face of Storied but Now Bankrupted West Texas Car Dealership Begins to Fight Back (6/24/2019)
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