Interesting thread and I hope it all works out in your favor. However, I'd suggest reconsidering this plan. While I'd love to see this guy get what's coming to him and letting people know about his scams helps others avoid getting ripped off, you are treading a fine line when you start posting flyers and taking out ads. Libel suits are an every day occurrence and even when you're 100% right, the costs of fighting a bogus charge can get pretty hefty. Even worse, you could lose (our justice system sometimes gets things wrong)!
Instead, I'd suggest hiring someone to find him and break his kneecaps. Wait, no, just kidding, honest, just kidding. You seem like a reasonable and intelligent guy so I think getting your money back should be where you make peace with the situation and move on down the road.
I understand your thoughts. You are correct about the slander issue however my "flyers" wouldn't contain anything negative aside from a name, a "link", a publically posted pic I borrowed, and for them to form their own opinion. I personally don't think this guy has the funds to sue me, but I've been wrong before:grin-square: