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In Lawsuit, Arvest Bank Seeks $467K From Dennis Smiley Jr.

3 min read

Arvest Bank of Fayetteville has sued to collect more than $467,000 in delinquent debt associated with its former Bentonville market president Dennis Smiley.

The bank sued to collect more than $386,000 allegedly owed by HDS Holdings LLC, of which 20 percent is owned by Smiley. The remaining 80 percent is owned by his namesake father, Henry Dennis Smiley Sr.

The loans bear the purported signatures of both father and son, although the elder Smiley to date has denied signing any loan documents that have come into controversy with his son’s financial meltdown.

HDS Holdings has a 14.3 percent stake in NWA Holdings LLC, which owns The Shoppes at Har-Ber Lakes in Springdale. The partially developed 19.8-acre property is home to 70,700 SF of mostly retail space.

The 20 percent stake in HDS owned by Dennis Smiley Jr. represents a 2.85 percent share of NWA Holdings.

One of the Arvest loans is secured by 862 shares of First State Bancshares, which owns First State Bank of De Queen. Henry Dennis Smiley Sr. is chairman of First State Bank of De Queen.

In a separate lawsuit, Arvest is suing to collect more than $81,000 owed on two Sept. 27, 2012, loans to Design for the Home LLC, the interior decorating business of Smiley’s wife, Cynthia.

Both cases were filed in Benton County Circuit Court. An outline of the Arvest loans listed in the litigation includes:

Dec. 8, 2009

  • $85,220 owed by HDS on an original $38,000 loan and later increased to $83,227. To secure the debt, Henry Dennis Smiley Revocable Trust pledged a certificate of deposit and a securities account held by Arvest Asset Management.
  • Purpose: Working capital to invest in small business.

Feb. 26, 2010

  • $101,164 owed on a $100,000 loan to HDS guaranteed by Henry Dennis Smiley Sr. and the Henry Dennis Smiley Revocable Trust.
  • Purpose: Working capital, to refinance business debt and for expenses.

Jan. 7, 2011

  • $65,572 owed on a $95,000 loan to HDS guaranteed by Henry Dennis Smiley Sr. and the Henry Dennis Smiley Revocable Trust.
  • Purpose: Working capital and debt consolidation.

Sept. 23, 2011

  • $74,568 owed by HDS on a $50,050 loan and later increased to $73,500, guaranteed by Henry Dennis Smiley Sr. and the Henry Dennis Smiley Revocable Trust.
  • Purpose: Working capital, down line of credit and capital call to NWA Holdings LLC.

Oct. 11, 2011

  • $59,727 owed on a $100,050 loan to HDS, guaranteed by Henry Dennis Smiley Sr. and the Henry Dennis Smiley Revocable Trust.
  • Purpose: Working capital and refinance debt at Bank of Arkansas (a division of BOK Financial Corp. of Tulsa).
  • BOK Financial was among the list of lenders with claims against Dennis Smiley Jr., but the company didn’t file any details before settling with Arvest Bank.

Sept. 27, 2012

  • $31,103 owed on a $40,000 loan to Design for the Home, guaranteed by Dennis and Cynthia Smiley. To secure the loan, Smiley pledged 682 shares of First State Bancshares Inc. of De Queen.
  • The stock in the $201.8 million-asset holding company of First State Bank of De Queen was held in the name of The Henry Dennis Smiley Revocable Trust.
  • $50,614 owed on an unsecured $50,000 loan to Design for the Home, guaranteed by Dennis and Cynthia Smiley.

Arvest’s actions make it the 11th bank to file details of delinquent loan claims associated with Dennis Smiley Jr. The two lawsuits push the known claims against Smiley to about $2.5 million. 

Dennis Smiley Jr. repeatedly pledged his interest in an Arvest Bank Group executive incentive account as collateral on a string of loans far exceeding the value of the collateral. A series of loans, estimated to involve $4.5 million and sometimes involving questionable signatures and documents, is under criminal investigation. No charges have been filed against Smiley.

Ten other lenders identified in earlier litigation haven’t file details in claims associated with Dennis Smiley Jr. In all, Smiley is believed to have taken out loans at 21 banks.

Earlier this month, Arvest reached settlements with 18 lenders. First State of DeQueen and Fayetteville’s Signature Bank of Arkansas were left out of the settlement.

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