COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A wedding photography company refused to refund a man after his bride-to-be died in a car crash in February. Now, Copper Stallion Media is under fire for its callous response.
"They said they would extend my service to my next wedding which was very insensitive thing to tell me," Justin Montney told our ABC sister station, KRDO-TV, in Colorado Springs.
The company at one point redirected its business website to a new site entirely dedicated to harassing Montney.
In one social media post the company wrote “We hope you sob and cry all day for what would have been your wedding day."
And in response to Alexis Wyatt’s mom, who is grieving the death of her daughter, the company wrote “nonrefundable means you cannot get your money back, even from the grave.”
Since our story aired, the Copper Stallion Media website has been restored but the website harassing Justin Montney is still up.
Several people who have worked for, or hired, Copper Stallion Media believe the owner is Jesse J. Clark, who was accused in 2013 of scamming 90 couples in Massachusetts out of money for wedding videos he never made.
"He essentially fled Massachusetts with a number of warrants. The state attorney general had an order against him and he was no longer able to do business in Massachusetts," attorney Nicholas Frye told Denver7.
Frye said Clark owes four of his clients over $100,000 after a judgment.
He believes Clark has gone from state to state scamming couples out of money for wedding videography and scamming photographers out of money as well. Because the amounts of money are small, usually less than $2,000, law enforcement considers it a civil matter.
Jesse J. Clark claims he is not affiliated with Copper Stallion Media and hasn't been in the wedding business since 2013. But addresses on checks paid to former employees are the same addresses of current businesses. A Facebook bio that has since been removed listed Copper Stallion Media as a former company.
Calls and emails to Copper Stallion Media and Jesse J. Clark were not returned.
Frye believes federal investigators need to get involved because Clark has allegedly scammed hundreds of couples across multiple states.
"It’s not a civil thing, it's not a bad business person. It’s a person who is intentionally making up these names, hiding money, moving assets," Frye said.
