Lawsuit claims fraud on US$2.5bn Disney-like theme park project

Render of the American Hearland Theme Park entrance. (Image courtesy Mansion Entertainment Group)

The American Heartland Theme Park, first announced in 2023, was pitched as a Disney-scale attraction along Route 66. Public plans included a 125-acre Americana-themed park, 750-space RV campground, 300-room hotel, and an indoor water park.

But construction progress stalled early. According to the complaint, “a gravel road and a fence” were all that had been built as of mid-2025, despite nearly $60 million in funding.

Developers confirmed last year that construction was delayed, but they were still planning for a 2030 completion date. Reporting at the time noted the project was facing several liens, with a construction and design firm claiming they were unpaid for their work.

July 2025 lawsuit

Then in July, O. Gene Bicknell, the sole funder behind the proposed $2.5 billion amusement park development, filed a 68-page federal complaint accusing defendants Rick Silanskas, Larry Wilhite, and Stephen Hedrick of wire fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy.

The suit claims the men used fabricated messages and impersonated religious figures to pressure Bicknell into bankrolling the project and eventually ceding them majority ownership.

Render of aerial view of American Heartland Theme Park in Oklahoma, US. (Image courtesy Mansion Entertainment Group)

The suit alleges that, beginning in 2022, Silanskas and Wilhite began sending Bicknell hundreds of messages purporting to be from “God” and, later, from a fictitious nun named “Sister Catherine.”

These daily communications demanded Bicknell obey divine instruction to continue funding the project and trust the defendants without question. At times, Bicknell was urged to empty his “storehouses” and “share the harvest equally” with his “triune” partners, which the suit claims were Silanskas and Wilhite.

The complaint outlines how the defendants allegedly isolated Bicknell from his family, impersonated former Disney executive Ron Logan to gain trust, and continued to solicit funds even as Bicknell suffered emotional distress and a stroke in 2024.

The project’s executive, Hedrick, according to local reporting in 2024, claimed to be a former Disney employee. He is accused of inflating projected visitor estimates, falsely claiming the support of former Disney imagineers, and misleading both Bicknell and local officials about the status of design and construction. According to the complaint, in one instance Hedrick told the Vinita city council that the project was waiting on $35 million in public funds, despite knowing that no such appropriation had been approved.

Silanskas and Wilhite are also accused of forging Bicknell’s signature on vendor contracts, and routing funds to family members under the guise of project work.

All three defendants are alleged to have personally profited from the scheme. Silanskas and relatives received about $648,000, Wilhite approximately $450,000, and Hedrick and family members more than $1.5 million. Meanwhile, additional contractors and vendors, including architecture and design firms, remain unpaid and have filed liens or lawsuits.

What’s next?

Despite wide publicity and support from state and local officials at launch, the American Heartland project has since collapsed. No further development has taken place, and the complaint alleges that feasibility studies used to justify the project’s scale were falsified or grossly inflated.

Bicknell is seeking damages under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, as well as claims for fraud, deceit, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. As of publication, Mansion Entertainment Group – the parent entity behind the park – has not issued a public response to the lawsuit.

US$2.5bn ‘Disney-like’ theme-park project delayed A more than US$2-billion plan to build a theme park in Oklahoma, US, has been pushed back