You don't often hear the words "Lego" and "scandal" in the same sentence, but here we are.And this deep into 2026, we've learned not to question why everyone on YouTube seems to be talking about a "Lego scandal" involving "Reckless Ben," arrests and lawsuits, the closure of the store at the centre of it all, what the company describes as "manufactured, viral hysteria" and a GoFundMe that's raised $670,000 for a family in Oregon. Instead, we merely gather these facts and pass them on to you. Brick by brick."The last two weeks have been utterly insane," Chrys Gorman, 45, a plaintiff in one lawsuit and a "potential co-conspirator" in another, told CBC News from Portland, Ore."I don't know that there's any way that anybody could actually prepare for something like this."Chrys Gorman (legal name Chrystal Law) is pictured in the Bricks & Minifigs location she once owned in Salem, Ore., in this 2023 photo provided to CBC News. (Chrys Gorman)What is the Lego scandal?The first thing to remember is that none of the allegations have been proven in court, and some of the facts are disputed by the different parties involved.The Lego scandal starts with a man named Bryan Mansell in Salem, Ore., who entered into a consignment agreement with a local franchise of Lego resale chain Bricks & Minifigs to sell his 83-year-old father's Star Wars Lego collection in November 2023.Lego unveils new ‘smart bricks’ with interactive lights and soundsN.B. student recreates 'iconic' Bill Reid print with thousands of Lego piecesThe agreement was made with Gorman, who was the Salem franchise owner at the time (her legal name as it appears in legal documents is Chrystal Law).Ed Mansell reportedly began growing his Lego collection in the 1990s as an investment in his grandchildren's college education. Bryan Mansell, his son, told a podcast in 2025 that the collection consists of 780 sets and 1,200 minifigures.The collection is worth about $278,000, according to multiple media reports. Although in a blog post last week, and in a lawsuit viewed by CBC News, Bricks & Minifigs says the "realistic" value may be more like half that amount.The agreement was that the store would sell items from the collection and split the proceeds, but that the collection remained Mansell's property in full until the moment of sale, according to the contract that Mansell shared with the Collecting Weekly podcast, which was posted online and viewed by CBC News.An Instagram post by a Bricks & Minifigs Salem-Keizer in Salem, Ore., from November 2023 advertises Ed Mansell's Lego collection. (Bricks & Minifigs Salem-Keizer/Instagram)For about a year, Mansell visited the store for monthly payments, totalling about $21,000, according to Bricks & Minifigs, which emphasized in its online statement that the agreement "was never authorized or approved by BAM corporate as required under the governing agreements." Then, in November 2024, Gorman says she and her husband planned to leave the U.S. when President Donald Trump won his second term. She told CBC News she thought the plan was for corporate to buy the store back from her, but a termination noticed landed in her inbox when the new owner came to tour the store.The statement from Bricks & Minifigs says that Gorman was formally terminated during her handover to the new owners "based on prior and documented breaches of the franchise agreement." The new owners had no knowledge of Mansell's agreement with Gorman, the company adds.Mansell came to the store a few days later and learned that Gorman was gone, and there were new owners who didn't recognize his agreement with Gorman about his collection, the statement claims. Mansell called the police, according to the company statement, but officers allegedly deemed it a private, civil matter. CBC News has reached out to Bryan Mansell and not yet heard back. But in a statement Mansell provided to the Collecting Weekly podcast in 2025, he alleged: "Essentially, they took over the store, stole our items, and don't think we have the time or resources to do anything about it."A Facebook post from November 2023, posted by the Salem location, shows Bryan Mansell's father with his Lego collection. (Bricks & Minifigs Salem-Keizer/Facebook)But how did this go viral?That's where "Reckless Ben" enters the chat. YouTuber Benjamin Schneider, who goes by Reckless Ben, took up the Mansell's cause last March and started posting videos about the saga a few weeks ago. His first, a video called "I tracked down the thief who stole $200,000 of Lego," was posted May 21. As of Thursday, it's been viewed 5.8 million times."I just thought it was such a crazy level of injustice that went on," Schneider told ABC4.com on June 3. The American Fork City Counsel heard public comments regarding the Lego theft reported by Reckless Ben and the actions made by the American Fork Police Department. Here are a few clips: <a href="https://t.co/ASf9N4ZcjA">pic.twitter.com/ASf9N4ZcjA</a>—StreamStandardsSchneider declined an interview due to his ongoing legal matters.In the first video, both he and Mansell allege company corruption and a police coverup. Schneider films himself driving 16 hours from California to Salem to confront the store with a hidden camera. He also films his confrontations with police.He admits to creating a website called "We steal from old people," using the Bricks and Minifigs logo. As of Thursday, it was still online. He also placed signs on the Salem store that said "we stole a family's life savings," according to lawsuit documents.Schneider has released seven videos about the Lego scandal so far. In one of them, he travels to the Bricks & Minifigs head office in Provo, Utah, and to the home of the store's new owner in American Fork, Utah. According to the lawsuit filed by Bricks & Minifigs, Schneider and his team impersonated delivery personnel to get access to the homes, impersonated members of religious congregations, impersonated officers of the court and placed "defamatory signs and banners in residential neighbourhoods."Some of these allegations are seen in Schneider's videos, where he says, "I'm going to have to get really creative to get [one of the new store owners] to come outside," and places a sign that says "I stole a dying man's life savings" across from his house. Schneider's aim was to serve him with legal papers for his court case, he says in the video.In his most recent video posted Tuesday, Schneider says he can't post another video about the scandal, "or I'll go to jail ... and immediately lose my lawsuit."Why was he arrested?According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Schneider faced misdemeanour charges of stalking, targeted residential picketing, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass against two Utahns "he has deemed responsible for the missing Lego sets." In a statement posted May 29, the American Fork Police Department's Chief Cameron Paul outlined four cases against Schneider from March 8 to March 12, 2026, which ultimately led to his arrest twice and charges against him on March 27. In a video response posted June 1, Schneider accused police of lying and hurting his arm during an arrest. WATCH | American Fork Police Department statement about YouTuber:What about lawsuits?Gorman, the former store owner, is suing Bricks & Minifigs, alleging wrongful termination, "and the franchisor’s subsequent seizure of the franchisee’s business assets and defamation of the franchise owners." CBC News has viewed the lawsuit, which was filed March 27 in Utah."They're trying to blame me for a mess they created and refuse to try to resolve," Gorman said.Schneider has filed a small claims lawsuit against the new co-owner of the Bricks & Minifigs location in Salem, claiming they owe him $10,000 US in Lego, according to Oregon Live. In his YouTube videos, Schneider discusses two lawsuits — one with each new owner.On May 27, Bricks & Minifigs filed a lawsuit in the Fourth District Court of Utah against Schneider and Bryan Mansell, alleging defamation, profiteering, racketeering and harassment. WATCH | Taking your Lego to the next level:Taking your Lego to the next levelMay 23|Duration 1:50Most Lego sets come with a set of instructions and just enough pieces to build what’s on the box. But what happens if you let your imagination do the building? CBC’s Tristan Mottershead reports.They claim the defendants — Gorman, her partner and her lawyer are named as potential co-conspirators — "waged a malicious and intentional campaign of extortion and destruction." On May 28, the court granted a temporary restraining order against the defendants, including a restriction on "creating, posting, publishing and disseminating (or any republication thereof) any false, misleading, harassing, interfering, defamatory or unlawful images or content, respecting Plaintiffs."CBC News has viewed copies of both court filings by Bricks & Minifigs. In a statement to CBC News, a Bricks & Minifigs spokesperson said the evidence is strongly in their favour. There will be a preliminary injunction hearing on June 30, the spokesperson said."We are confident we will get through this manufactured, viral hysteria very soon."What now?On June 4, Bricks & Minifigs announced the permanent closure of its Salem store, as well as a "mutual agreement to part ways" with the new franchise owners.While the new franchise owners don't appear to have made public statements, they are named as plaintiffs in the Bricks & Minifigs lawsuit against Schneider and Mansell. The decision to close the store was made due to what the company called "a devastating social media campaign." But, in its online statement, Bricks & Minifigs alleges it had also uncovered "significant evidence of gross negligence in how the store was previously operated by the prior owner, as well as operational gaps during the transition and the subsequent management of document recovery."Again, none of these allegations have been proven in court.The Lego collection in question is worth about $278,000, according to multiple media reports. Although, Bricks & Minifigs says the 'realistic' value may be more like half that amount. (Tom Little/Reuters)In its published timeline of events, the company claims Gorman "underreported sales to Bryan by a significant amount," and that she sold at least $72,000 of his collection during her time with the store.Gorman says she hasn't seen the receipts or the full accounting the company has cited to make this claim, so she's "not sure what they're pointing at." And she maintains that she's told Bricks & Minifigs that if they show her the accounting, and they're correct, she'll cut a cheque for Mansell "today.""If I messed up, and I missed something, that's on me," she said.The company has offered to sit down and go through the spreadsheets and data with Mansell and is prepared to discuss a settlement that would drop Mansell from the lawsuit "once we can confirm the records and facts," the Bricks & Minifigs spokesperson said.An online fundraiser set up by Schneider has raised more than $673,000 for the Mansells. Gorman's own online fundraiser had raised $115,000 by Thursday."Bryan was an innocent third party caught in the middle of what we believe were unethical business practices," Gorman said."I feel horrible for him."