FLORENCE, Ky. — It’s a “location agnostic” investment company whose founders came from California and Virginia. And it’s racking up lawsuits in Greater Cincinnati, after acquiring a cluster of Northern Kentucky companies in 2022.
In the last two years, Reston Equity Group and its affiliated companies have been named in 23 lawsuits, claiming total damages of more than $2.7 million. Thirteen of the lawsuits were filed by vendors who say they’re owed more than $800,000 for materials or services provided to companies that Reston acquired.
Other lawsuits were filed by companies that financed construction equipment, homeowners who paid for improvements that never happened and Huff Realty, which claims it is owed $127,000 for unpaid brokerage fees.
WATCH: We look into lawsuits, allegations against Reston Construction
Companies named as defendants include Beaumont Homes, Kramer Pools, Arlinghaus Electric, Landworx and Cru Cutters. All of them were previously owned by Northern Kentucky entrepreneur Christopher Cook, who is also suing Reston in a Kenton County case that was filed under seal.
The WCPO 9 I-Team began looking into Reston after a group of former employees asked for help, claiming the company owed them money. They also claimed customers and contractors weren’t being paid.
Reston founder Kyle Motycka declined to answer the I-Team’s questions. He referred the I-Team to the company’s general counsel, who has yet to respond.
Hamilton County records show Motycka owns a home in Madeira, but his LinkedIn page describes him as a Washington, D.C.-based division manager for VSL Transportation. It also describes him as a former president of the Railway Association of Southern California, with work experience that includes the Los Angeles County MTA Crenshaw Line and the United States Border Fence Program.
Reston’s website says Motycka co-founded Reston Equity Group with Dr. Daniel Logsdon, a thoracic surgeon who “has been actively involved in residential, commercial, and multifamily real estate transactions for 14 years.”
Another founding partner is Motycka’s wife, Sarah Girgis Motycka, who worked in the banking industry prior to joining Reston as marketing manager in 2023.
The trio purchased Cook’s company, TKOR Holdings LLC, in 2022. But Cook remained in leadership positions with his companies after the sale.
In fact, his LinkedIn bio still shows Cook as president of Arlinghaus Electric, Cru Cutters and TKOR Holdings. He’s listed as the owner of Beaumont Building Group, Kramer Pools and Landworx.
The I-Team tried to reach Cook through his attorney, who declined to comment.
One employee, who requested anonymity because she fears being sued, said Cook and Motycka had a falling out in 2023 that led to Cook ending his involvement in the company’s management.
Cook is a well-known business leader who won the Northern Kentucky Chamber’s Next Generation Leadership Award in Entrepreneurship in 2022. The employee said Cook’s departure had a big impact on Reston Construction.
“Vendors started showing up at the door, knocking on the door, showing up at the job site,” the employee said. “They started taking their materials out of houses and away from jobs, even if they’d already been installed. They started harassing a lot of the employees … I never experienced any of that when Chris was at the helm.”
The employee said Reston Construction was a part-time job for Motycka, who traveled a lot for his job with VSL Transportation. By June 2024, she said, the company started missing employee paychecks.
The Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet confirmed it is investigating a Feb. 13 complaint against Reston Construction for nonpayment of wages but declined to provide details. A spokeswoman said a January complaint against Cru Cutters was closed because the company had dissolved.
“There were two complaints filed against Landworx” in 2024, she added. “Both cases were closed at the request of the claimants.”
Cru Cutters was a landscaping company that occupied a property on Dudley Trace Road. Kramer Pools was also based there, and that’s where Cook spent a lot of his time. Boone County real estate records show the property was sold to a Texas company in February for $1.4 million.
The I-Team contacted more than 20 people to learn more about the company’s apparent financial problems, but none of them were willing to talk publicly about their concerns.
So, this report relies on court records, property records and public disclosures on corporate websites to reveal as much as possible about Reston.
In one lawsuit, a Loveland couple seeks a $99,900 refund of their down payment on a new house that was to be built by Beaumont Homes.
The two claim Cook assured them in 2023 that a lot they purchased at the Davis Pointe development in Williamstown, Ky., was big enough to accommodate the home and boat house they wanted to build there. It wasn’t. So, they canceled their contract. Beaumont offered a partial refund of $52,011, overstating the value of work already completed, according to the complaint.
Another lawsuit against Kramer Pools claims the company “ceased all communications” with an Anderson Township couple after accepting a $50,000 deposit for a new pool.
The couple claims they signed a contract on Jan. 3, 2024, and were promised a $155,000 pool by Labor Day. The complaint says several months passed with no work and no communication from the company, so they canceled the contract Aug. 1. The couple won a $55,000 judgment against Kramer Pools in June but have so far been able to collect only $5,262, according to court records.
A third lawsuit, filed days ago in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, involves an employment dispute with a man hired to raise money for the company.
Dr. Aaron Funk alleges he signed a contract in 2023 to be the director of investor relations and business development for Reston Equity Group. He was to be paid $150,000 plus bonuses for money he raised and a tuition reimbursement benefit worth up to $223,500.
By May 2025, Funk alleged Reston was $143,426 behind on its “payment obligations.” That led to a series of exchanges that culminated in Funk’s firing “for cause” on Sept. 3.
Funk is seeking court orders declaring the company violated the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act and had “insufficient facts” to justify a for-cause firing. He also wants a finding that the company’s actions “constitute legal fraud and deceit entitling Plaintiff to compensatory, consequential and punitive damages along with attorney fees and costs.”
