Dennis Smiley

Nothing I’ve learned from nearly 19 years as editor of Arkansas Business resonates more than this: Wealth and the appearance of wealth are two different things. And yet we fall for appearances over and over again. read more >

H. Dennis Smiley Jr., the former bank president who pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud, was sentenced Thursday to 97 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release. read more >

Community First Bank of Harrison sued Dennis Smiley Sr. last month claiming he owes nearly $250,000 for defaulted loans. read more >

Two of the remaining banks in the serial loan controversies of Dennis Smiley Jr. hold judgments against the former Arvest executive. read more >

It looks like Dennis Smiley Jr.’s wife’s $2.3 million bankruptcy case is coming to an end. read more >

A tour of the hidden underground tunnels of Hot Springs was the most-read story on ArkansasBusiness.com in 2014. read more >

Politics, white-collar crime, banking acquisitions, Turner Grain and more. Arkansas Business recaps the top 10 stories from the year that was 2014. read more >

They said it: The best quotes of the year. read more >

Cynthia Smiley, the wife of former Arvest Bank executive Dennis Smiley Jr., filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Thursday, listing $2.3 million in debts and $34,000 in assets. read more >

Community First Bank of Harrison files a three-count civil lawsuit against former Arvest Bank executive Dennis Smiley Jr. on Thursday. read more >

Eighteen lenders were dismissed from the battle over assets once owned by former Arvest Bank executive Dennis Smiley Jr. read more >

Arvest Bank of Fayetteville has sued to collect more than $467,000 in delinquent debt associated with its former Bentonville market president Dennis Smiley. Arvest’s actions make it the 11th bank to file details of delinquent loan claims associated with Dennis Smiley Jr. The two lawsuits pushes the known claims against Smiley to about $2.5 million. read more >

Ten banks that loaned money to Dennis H. Smiley Jr. included details about their claims in court filings. Total outstanding on the 20 loans is nearly $2 million. read more >

First Security Bank of Searcy files a foreclosure lawsuit on a $200,000 loan secured by Dennis Smiley’s home in Rogers. read more >

Gary Head, chairman, president and CEO of Fayetteville’s Signature Bank of Arkansas, says he learned of the multimillion-dollar loan scandal involving Dennis Smiley Jr. in a phone call from Smiley himself. read more >

Arvest Bank of Fayetteville has settled with 18 of 20 creditors who loaned money to one of its former executives, Dennis Smiley Jr. Only First State Bank of De Queen, where Smiley’s namesake father is chairman, and Signature Bank of Arkansas in Fayetteville remain as possible claimants seeking money from Smiley’s Arvest Bank Group stock purchase and stock option plans. read more >

Arvest Bank says it was unaware of documents purportedly signed by one of its executives that allowed Dennis Smiley to use his stock in an Arvest executive incentive account as loan collateral at First National Bank of Fort Smith. read more >

When the acquisition of Summit Bancorp is completed later this month, Ross Whipple also will become one of the largest shareholders at Bank of the Ozarks Inc. of Little Rock. read more >

First Bank of Hampton joins the expanding roster of banks seeking to recover money loaned to Dennis Smiley, a former Arvest Bank executive who is under federal criminal investigation for loan fraud. read more >

We don’t pretend to be bankers here at Arkansas Business — or lawyers, for that matter. We’re just journalists, paid to tell our audience information we can glean from events, statements, documents, interviews and direct observation. read more >