HUNTINGTON — A Barboursville contractor won a $1.5 million judgment against First State Bank in a contract dispute.
The Aug. 23 jury verdict in Cabell Circuit Court stems from a lawsuit filed by Jeffrey Frye in 2016.
Frye, the owner of The Wall Guy Inc. and JR Contractors, alleged the bank added money to his loans that he never received.
According to court documents, Frye had been doing business with First State Bank for more than 20 years. After his longtime loan officer retired, a new loan officer, Jackie Cantley, took over Frye's loans. The business owner noticed his small loans grew very quickly.
Frye claims he took his concerns to the bank's management, who pressured him into signing over nearly half a million dollars in construction equipment at the meeting.
Frye sued First State Bank for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and negligence. He also sought a restraining order to stop a foreclosure of his property.
He was represented by Richard W. Weston of Weston Law Office.
Cantley was sentenced in 2014 to five years in prison and ordered to pay back $1.42 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He entered a guilty plea earlier that year to aiding and abetting the misallocation of bank funds.
Cabell Circuit Court case number: 16-C-27