Eighteen lenders were dismissed from the battle over assets once owned by former Arvest Bank executive Dennis Smiley Jr.
The order to dismiss the banks from the Benton County Circuit Court case formalizes a settlement that Arvest announced in August through court filings.
The action leaves only Signature Bank of Fayetteville and First State Bank of De Queen as potential claimants on Smiley’s Arvest Bank Group stock purchase and stock option plans.
Arvest placed the cash value of the plans ($552,000) in the court registry after the battle over Smiley’s assets began in March.
Smiley repeatedly pledged his interest in the plans as collateral on a string of loans far exceeding the cash value.
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.
Signature Bank has yet to lay claim to any of Smiley’s Arvest money. The bank did file a collateral claim on Smiley’s 20 percent stake in HDS Holdings LLC tied to an unspecified September 2009 loan.
His fractional HDS holding represents a 2.8 percent share of 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.
First State Bank of De Queen, where Smiley’s namesake father is chairman, Queen has staked an unspecified claim to the $552,000.
Neither Signature nor First State Bank has filed legal paperwork detailing financial claims against Smiley.
A status hearing on the case is scheduled for Thursday.
The 18 lenders who settled are:
- BOKF of Tulsa
- Bank of Fayetteville
- Bank of the Ozarks in Little Rock
- Benefit Bank of Fort Smith
- Chambers Bank of Danville
- Centennial Bank of Conway (successor in interest to Jonesboro’s Liberty Bank of Arkansas)
- Delta Trust & Bank of Little Rock
- First Bank of Hampton
- First Federal Bank of Harrison
- First National Bank of Fort Smith
- Integrity First Bank of Mountain Home
- First Security Bank of Searcy
- First State Bank of Lonoke
- First State Bank of Russellville
- First Western Bank of Booneville
- Legacy National Bank of Springdale
- Summit Bank of Arkadelphia
- Today’s Bank of Huntsville (formerly First State Bank of Northwest Arkansas)