The Bank of Fayetteville Seeking Nearly $1M from Smiley Interests

In a potentially blockbuster filing in Benton County, The Bank of Fayetteville is asking the Benton County Circuit Court to award judgments in excess of $951,000 against HDS Holdings LLC, Henry Dennis Smiley Sr. as trustee of the Henry Dennis Smiley Revocable Trust, and Henry Dennis Smiley Jr.

Smiley Sr. is over the trust, while his son, a former bank executive with Arvest Bank of Fayetteville, controls HDS Holdings.

Dennis Smiley abruptly resigned as president and CEO of Arvest Benton County on March 13. The bank named longtime Arvest Fort Smith executive Craig Rivaldo as his replacement Tuesday.

Mary Beth Brooks, president and CEO of The Bank of Fayetteville, could not be reached for comment.

The demand for judgment is the first response to an interpleader petition filed by Arvest Bank on April 2, when the bank asked for, and was ultimately granted permission to, deposit the proceeds of Smiley’s stock and stock options — valued at $551,754.58 — into an account to be divvied up among the 19 banks listed as Smiley’s creditors.

According to the interpleader suit, Smiley repeatedly pledged the same Arvest stock as security for loans from different banks.

The Bank of Fayetteville demand was filed April 7 by Fayetteville law firm Everett Wales and Comstock. The suit alleges five counts of breach of contract in a tangle of loans and loan extensions dating as far back as 2007.