Featured Image Credit: Reckless Ben / YouTube
If you haven't heard of the 'Mormon Mafia' conspiracy theory, get ready to go down the rabbit hole in a big way. YouTuber Ben Schneider is known for his online alias of 'Reckless Ben', and now, he's accused of living up to this moniker after getting involved in a heated dispute over $200,000 worth of LEGO Star Wars sets.
For fans of the galaxy far, far away, you'll know that LEGO Star Wars sets mean big business. The LEGO Star Wars Death Star has the honor of being the most expensive LEGO set ever, and while its $999.99 price tag is colossal, the second-hand market is also booming. Currently, a LEGO Star Wars Cloud City set from 2003 is listed for over $4,600. Not bad considering it was released for just $99.99 back in the day.
So, when $200,000 of LEGO Star Wars sets supposedly go missing, you can bet people are going to take notice of this colorful crime. As Schneider got pulled into this sprawling saga that makes your average Star Wars outing look boring, he claims he's fled to Mexico due to a warrant being out for his arrest.
The complicated case goes back to late 2024, when collector Bryan Mansell and his elderly father consigned their collection of over 780 LEGO Star Wars sets to a Bricks & Minifigs franchise in Oregon. For those who don't know, a consignment involves a seller leaving goods for a third party to sell. Importantly, the original owner retains full ownership, and they're only paid when an item is successfully sold. The store will take a cut of the sale, but if anything remains unsold, it's returned to the owner.
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This is where things get murky, as after the Bricks & Minifigs franchise was sold to new owners, it's said the collection vanished.
Although the original franchise owner is said to have informed corporate about plans to sell, provided the original consignment agreement and security footage that suggested the original deal would be honored, this didn't happen.
Despite local Facebook groups lobbying for Mansell, he eventually reached out to Reckless Ben in hopes that his style of YouTube investigative journalism video could nudge Bricks & Minifigs into returning the sets.
Schneider's original video has been viewed 3.1 million times, with tactics involving setting up rival businesses, staging fake deliveries in an attempt to capture signatures, and filming outside homes.
This led to a run-in with the police, where an Airbnb that Schneider and his team were staying at was raided.
The American Fork Police Department has defended itself and said that they weren't responding to the LEGO dispute, but Bricks & Minifigs employee Joshua Johnson complaining that he and his family were being harassed.
In a statement, Bricks & Minifigs wrote: "We are completely willing to sit down and figure out a fair, reality-based way to ensure this grandfather is made whole. However, there is a fundamental difference between a good-faith resolution and giving in to a coordinated, viral extortion campaign."
Schneider’s videos have pushed a theory that the local police are protecting franchise owners Johnson and Brandon Best, as well as the corporate owners of Bricks & Minifigs, because they're all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This has led to the online trend of the 'Mormon Mafia' conspiracy theory. Other big names like MoistCr1TiKaL have covered the story, while Mormon Mafia has been trending online.
As well as the American Fork Police responding, Schneider claimed to have fled to Mexico because a new arrest warrant was issued against him. In a June 1 video, Schneider released his own side of the story, saying he's asked for bodycam footage, was threatened with murder, and gave the following warning: "Some of the best lawyers in the United States are reaching out to me right now. So eventually this is going to get released. Wouldn't you just like to get this over with sooner rather than dragging this out?"
With Reckless Ben promising that a third video is on the way, what started as a hunt for missing LEGO has evolved into a very different story.
