One-year sentence given for bank fraud
Andrew Judkins, a 43-year-old businessman convicted of two counts of bank fraud, was sentenced Friday to one year in prison followed by two years of supervised release.
Kenneth Elser, acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, also announced that Judkins was ordered to pay $438,500 in restitution.
Judkins, who was the owner of a Fayetteville heavy equipment company, pleaded innocent to charges in March, which included defrauding four local financial institutions -- Bank of the Ozarks, First Security Bank, Wells Fargo Equipment Finance and GE Commercial Distribution Finance Corporation -- by giving them false equipment rental agreements, according to court documents.
He used the money as a down payment on a lake house and a collectible car, according to the documents.
Judkins, who now lives in Bixby, Okla., was convicted after an FBI and IRS investigation into the case and a five-day jury trial.
-- Claire Williams
Batesville bank tops $1 billion in assets
First Community Bank of Batesville has become the 10th bank in Arkansas with more than $1 billion in assets.
First Community had more than $991 million in assets as of June 30. It first exceeded $1 billion on July 31 and dipped below it the next week, said Dale Cole, First Community's chairman and chief executive officer.
"We're now solidly over $1 billion at $1,009,270,828, as of close of business [Thursday]," Cole said.
The bank was established in 1997 with $3.5 million in capital from 153 investors.
The other banks with more than $1 billion in assets are Arvest Bank of Fayetteville, Bank of the Ozarks in Little Rock, Centennial Bank in Conway, Simmons First National Bank of Pine Bluff, First Security Bank in Searcy, Bear State Bank in Little Rock, Farmers Bank & Trust Co. in Magnolia, First National Bank of Fort Smith and Southern Bancorp Bank in Arkadelphia.
-- David Smith
Windstream paces state index gainers
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, dropped 1.23 to 319.72 Friday.
Eleven stocks declined and six advanced.
Bear State Financial gained 3.4 percent in light trading and USA Truck rose 2 percent in below-average volume.
For the week, 14 stocks declined, three advanced and one was unchanged.
Windstream rose 8.1 percent for the week. and P.A.M. Transportation fell 5.6 percent.
Total volume of the index was 17.8 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 23.5 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 09/05/2015