From what I have read on this thread I'm finding it hard to believe that anyone would steal one of his machines, isn't that just inflicting more pain on yourself ??
Unfortunately people like this often get away with it, seen the same sort of thing in different industries where they don't lose anything personally & just start up again with a different name, doesn't help those that have lost money but if your spending that sort of money on machinery then go & visit the company before parting with any cash & make sure you do your research properly. Having been bitten ( very very big style) 10 years or so ago I'm a lot more careful what I do with my cash & if a deal looks to good to be true then best advice would be to give it a very wide berth.