BOZ Exec Said To Have Taken Residence in Waterford Clubhouse

By now most Whispers readers have heard that developer Gary Combs has settled the $108 million lawsuit he filed against Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks.

A fine point in the compliant not mentioned by the press, including this publication, may be worth noting now that more has been revealed.

In Combs’ complaint filed May 1, he alleges that BOZ’s market president at the time, J. Shannon White, and his wife took up residence at the 6,200-SF clubhouse at Waterford Estates. White was named as a defendant in the complaint and the $1.16 million mortgage on the Waterford Clubhouse was one of many counts that Combs’ lawyer used in the argument.

White’s wife (her full name is not mentioned in the suit) was “retained to act as security and to show the Clubhouse to potential lot buyers in the Waterford Estates Development.”

“In essence,” the complaint continues, “the President of the Northwest Arkansas Division of [BOZ] had his wife contracting employment with the Bank’s loan customer in violation” of the bank’s published code of ethics.

This sounded plausible, as there are a handful of residents living in Waterford and only the occasional wedding reception has been held at the clubhouse that’s complete with a 35-foot by 18-foot swimming pool, flat screen TVs and some commercial grade kitchen gear. There’s just not much going on in that subdivision.

We could never prove one way or the other that the couple lived in the clubhouse, but this we know for sure: White no longer works for BOZ and there is no residence listed in his name in either Benton or Washington county. He could not be reached for comment.

BOZ’s new Northwest Arkansas division president is Harvey Williams. He’s been with the bank in this market for three years.