Firm files for $9.1M
from ex-Allens owner
Hartung Brothers Inc. filed motions in bankruptcy court this week asking the court to require Veg Liquidation, the former owners of defunct Allens, to pay the $9.1 million it is owed.
The Wisconsin-based supplier to Siloam Springs-based Allens asked for its motion to be heard in November, along with demands for payment by Springdale-based H.C. Schmieding Produce and D&E Farms Inc. of Pennsylvania. By the time of the hearing, the 30-day deadline to pay approved claims under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act will have expired in the Hartung's case, according to the filing.
Bankruptcy Judge Ben Barry has ruled in favor of all three of the claimants, but those rulings have been appealed, or notice of appeal has been given, to the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Arkansas. Initial claims by H.C. Schmieding were $1.2 million and $1.9 for D&E Farms.
Attorneys for Veg Liquidation and Sager Creek Vegetable Co., the new owners of what was once Allens, have argued the sale order states payment is not required until the court rules the claim is final and cannot be appealed.
In October 2013, Siloam Springs-based Allens Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Arkansas. It has since been shifted to Chapter 7.
-- John Magsam
FDIC orders bank's
ex-CEO to stay clear
Woody Castleberry, former chief executive officer at First Southern Bank in Batesville before the bank was closed in 2010 and sold to Southern Bank of Poplar Bluff, Mo., has been prohibited by federal regulators from any future participation with a bank.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued the order Sept. 3, but it was not made public until Friday.
The FDIC said Castleberry engaged in unsafe or unsound banking practices while at First Southern Bank.
The bank was closed because of a fraudulent scheme by Little Rock lawyer Kevin Lewis that victimized 15 to 20 banks, the U.S. Attorney said in 2011.
Castleberry has the right to a hearing on the decision barring him from banking, the FDIC said.
-- David Smith
12 advance, 5 drop
on Arkansas Index
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, jumped 3.13 to 358.00 Friday.
Twelve stocks advanced, and five declined. Acxiom was up 2.7 percent on average volume. ArcBest rose 2.4 percent on average volume.
USA Truck fell 2.9 percent in above-average volume.
For the week, 13 stocks were up and 4 lost ground.
Acxiom gained 11.7 percent, and ArcBest climbed 8.3 percent for the week.
Deltic Timber lost 1.9 percent.
Total volume of the index was 19.3 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 19.6 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 11/01/2014