May 28, 2015

Jury Convicts Property Development Company Executive for $1.2 Million Bank Fraud

TULSA, OK—Following an 8-day jury trial, Bruce Carlton Wright, 69, of Norman, was convicted today of conspiracy and 11-counts of bank fraud. The scheme to defraud the IBC Bank of approximately $1.2 million dollars was in connection with property development, announced United States Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr. of the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Court documents show from June 2007 to July 2008, Wright and his co-defendant, Robert Alan Blaksley, 52, of Owasso, conspired to submit fraudulent invoices to the IBC Bank for work that was not performed on a Bentonville, Arkansas property. The invoices were materially misleading and omitted sufficient detail to determine if work was actually completed and how much work remained on a property. The bank fraud amount totaled $1,176,490.60.

On August 13, 2014, Wright and Blaksley were charged by indictment for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud. During the conspiracy, Wright was the Vice President and President of Group Blaksley, LLC, and was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations and overseeing construction projects. Blaksley was the CEO.

Wright will be sentenced on September 16, 2015, and faces the statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000. Blaksley pleaded guilty on May 8, 2015, and will be sentenced on August 13, 2015 by United States District Court Chief Judge Gregory K. Frizzell. In addition to the prison incarceration, both defendants will face a criminal forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $1,176,490 representing proceeds of the bank fraud scheme.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Assistant United States Attorneys Joel-lyn A. McCormick and Catherine Depew prosecuted the case.