On January 28, 2021, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office Financial Crimes Unit began an investigation into allegations of a scheme. The allegations involved a suspect deceiving multiple victims of promised services which were never provided.

The investigation revealed the suspect, Richard Reynolds (DOB: 01/19/1979) of the Black Forest Retreat, promised all-inclusive wedding services and instead of fulfilling the agreed upon services, nothing was provided and he kept the money.

During the course of the investigation, a detective identified 40 victims who were all scammed by Reynolds. These incidents were documented under 31 different case report numbers. The victims came from locations ranging from Thornton to Pueblo.

Detective Karl Mai was able to determine Reynolds had scammed his victims out of more than $260,000.00.

On October 26, 2021, Detective Mai obtained an arrest warrant for Reynolds involving several criminal acts related to this investigation, with the highest charges being two counts of Theft from an At-Risk Adult.

On October 27, 2021, Reynolds was taken into custody with the assistance of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office Tactical Support Unit and was booked into the El Paso County Jail on sixteen felony charges related to:
Crimes Against At Risk Adults,
Theft over $100,000 but less than $1,000,000,
Forgery, Criminal Impersonation, and
Unlawful Possession of Controlled Substance.

We would like to remind our community that anyone can fall prey to fraudulent crimes. Scammers do not pass over anyone due to such factors as a person's age, finances, educational level, gender, race, or ability. In fact, fraud perpetrators often target certain groups based on these factors. If you have any information you would like to share pertaining to these cases, please contact our Investigations Tip Line at 719-520-6666.

Reynolds' mugshot is attached to this media release.