Reagor and Dykes Claim Ford Motor Credit Should Have Known
Bart Reagor and Rick Dykes filed court records Friday saying why Ford Motor Credit should not automatically collect the over $100 million from the two from the personal guaranty.
KAMC News reports that Ford's argument is that both Reagor and Dykes automatically owe the money and do not even have the right to go to trial, since Reagor Dykes filed for bankruptcy.
Ford claims the dealerships falsified sales records to make it look like vehicles had not sold and therefore money was not yet owed to Ford. The document filed Friday, however, claims Ford employees either knew or should have known something was wrong long before July 31st 2018, the day Ford sued Reagor Dykes.
Rick Dykes provided a different explanation as to how the problem got so big. Dykes said that the "Reagor-Dykes Auto Group was ‘loading’ a disproportionately large number of inventory sales in the week immediately preceding each Ford Credit quarterly audit.”
Dykes says that CFO Shane Smith, who was fired shortly after Ford sued Reagor Dykes, would have known. Dykes also claimed that Smith's friend and employee of Ford, Gary Byrd, also knew or should have known.
Reagor and Dykes claim that if Ford participated in fraud then the personal guaranty is lost. A judge has yet to rule, and even if the judge agrees, it only lets them avoid summary judgement.