San Luis Obispo County developer accused of bribery, denied bail again

April 10, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

Correction: Attorneys Roy Ogden and John Fricks were mentioned in emails, documents regarding an insurance policy, however, they were not the sender nor recipient of the emails.

For the third time in less than six months, a federal judge denied San Luis Obispo County developer Ryan Wright’s attempt to get out of jail on bail, further exposing alleged criminal activity.

Wright, who along with attorney John Belsher, allegedly bribed SLO County Supervisor Adam Hill, is being held without bail because of concerns he will flee, harm others economically or physically, and continue to obstruct justice.  In his latest attempt, Belsher penned a check for $100,000 in an attempt to get his business partner out of jail.

Claiming he is indigent, Wright secured a public defender who is actively trying to get his client out on bail. In the request for bail, Belsher argued he has held $100,000 of money for Wright since Sept. 2023.

Before the April 1 bail hearing, prosecutors provided a declaration from Assistant United States Attorney Daniel O’Brien and hundreds of pages of evidence to support their attempt to keep Wright behind bars until his trial, currently scheduled for October.

“Belsher’s retention of defendant’s settlement funds in his IOLTA account for approximately six months appears to be inconsistent with Wright’s claim of indigency in connection with his requests for appointed counsel,” according to O’Brien’s declaration. “It also suggests that Belsher has been concealing or parking assets on behalf of defendant.”

Prosecutors also argued that some of the bail funds appeared to be tied to alleged fraud against investors.

In addition, prosecutors noted they are investigating a possible life insurance scheme in which Wright appears to be concealing assets. In Aug. 2022, Belsher and Wright entered into a settlement agreement in which the 68-year-old Belsher secured a $4 million life insurance policy with Wright as the beneficiary, allegedly to make up for the imbalances in their capital accounts and Wright’s payments to attorneys.

“The government’s rapidly evolving investigation into this arrangement indicates that the life insurance scheme was developed during the period May through September 2022,” according to O’Brien’s declaration. “During that period, Wright, Belsher, and their attorneys discussed procuring the life insurance policies.”

In exhibits filed in support of denying bail, emails between attorney Anne Cyr and insurance agent Mark K. Balaban discuss Wright’s plan to secure an insurance policy and to provide the information to attorneys Roy Ogden and John Fricks, whose firm paid the first installment on the policy.

Some of the email exhibits:

From Balaban to Cyr on May 1, 2022: “As you know, we now have approval for Belsher life insurance (so far, we have $2,000,000 with annual premiums of approximately $51,000). We are placing coverage in tranches of $1,000,000 and once we have the initial $2,000,000 placed/bound, we will go back to the carriers to increase; Ryan would like to place a total of $4,000,000 – I’ll explain the methodology when we talk live.”

From Balaban to Cyr on May 18, 2022: “As you know, we now have approval for Belsher life insurance (so far, we have $2,000,000 with annual premiums of approximately $51,000). We are placing coverage in tranches of $1,000,000 and once we have the initial $2,000,000 placed/bound, we will go back to the carriers to increase; Ryan would like to place a total of $4,000,000 – I’ll explain the methodology when we talk live When you have a minute, can we please discuss?”

From Cyr to Balaban on May 19, 2022: “Hancock uses two different forms to change ownership and beneficiary; Prudential uses one. The “blank” signed forms I sent you are for both carriers to effectuate the needed ownership and beneficiary changes. I can submit the changes whenever appropriate , as I now have the needed documents. Regarding the new ownership, the timing is most critical (not too soon), but the type of ownership (trust, LLC, individual) will not matter at all. Please let me know if you have any questions, Mark.”

From Balaban to Cyr on May 19, 2022: “Hancock uses two different forms to change ownership and beneficiary; Prudential uses one. The “blank” signed forms I sent you are for both carriers to effectuate the needed ownership and beneficiary changes. I can submit the changes whenever appropriate , as I now have the needed documents. Regarding the new ownership, the timing is most critical (not too soon), but the type of ownership (trust, LLC, individual) will not matter at all. Please let me know if you have any questions, Mark.”

From Cyr to Balaban on May 19, 2022: “Thank you for this. Can you tell me if this is a consent to change beneficiaries, change owners, or both? The attachment didn’t contain the full document and I couldn’t tell from what was attached. I’ll get you the information needed for the beneficiary/owner. AC question to insurance agent Mark, Question: the new owner and beneficiary for Ryan will be a trust. As far as the owner goes,  will it make a difference from your perspective (either better or worse) as to how the trust is named?”

From Wright to Cyr and Balaban May 19, 2022: “Please work with Fricks immediately to make sure these instructions end up in our buy sell, agreement / settlement with JB.”

From Balaban to Cyr on May 19, 2022: “Per our conversation (and your records) see attached signed change of owner/beneficiary forms for both Prudential and Hancock – Belsher. We can submit the change of beneficiary as soon as the policies are bound (to whomever is appropriate – Ryan, trust, LLC) and change of ownership approximately 90 days later.”

From Balaban to Cyr on May 19, 2022: “Prudential and Hancock have both issued the first $1,000,000 policies (total of $2,000,000 so far). As discussed, we need to bind both policies before we can go back and ask each carrier to increase coverage (to obtain the total of $4,000,000 desired). We can send wire and binding instructions early next week. Please let me know if there are any questions.”

“Consequently, it appears that Wright has been parking money with Belsher to conceal it from the government and fraud victims or at least make himself judgement proof,” according to O’Brien’s declaration. “Such actions further demonstrate that Defendant is too poor a risk to justify bond.”

Wright’s first attempt for release on bail in 2023 failed after prosecutors found issues with several people who were offering to post portions of his bond, including Anne Cyr, Wright’s trust attorney. Cyr has refused to comply with a subpoena from the government to obtain billing records and trust documents related to the trust in which Wright is a beneficiary.

San Luis Obispo developer Ryan Wright’s clandestine texting backfired and he lost second bid in Jan. 2023 to get out of jail. Inmates are barred from sending private texts from a federal jail, but that apparently didn’t stop Wright, according to court records.

Before the Jan. 2 hearing, prosecutors filed multiple documents detailing their reasons Wright should remain in jail until his trial, including evidence that he sent clandestine texts from jail and that he appears to have access to $250,000 through a trust.

FBI agents arrested Wright, 37, on Oct. 30 on a three-count indictment charging him with conspiracy, falsification of records and obstruction of justice. Wright and Belsher’s business, PB Companies, allegedly paid nearly $100,000 in bribes and gifts to former SLO County Supervisor Hill.

A superseding indictment filed on Dec. 20 includes 18 additional charges related to a proposed development in Texas, including wire fraud, bank fraud and access device fraud. Wright’s trial is set for Oct. 29, 2024.