OP

Quoted from jusflyinby:

Hey everyone, sorry for my silence and delay, but the unfortunate truth is we have no great updates to share. We've so far been unsuccessful in serving this dude, despite the fact we have his confirmed address, real name, etc... COVID and it's travel restrictions has certainly not helped.
At this point I'm not sure what else to do than sink more money into this trying to hire a professional to track the guy down. Even then, with a clear case he's in the wrong, I understand there's still no guarantee I'd ever see a dime. It crushes me that someone like this can get away with it so easy, but I just don't know what else to do that's not going to put me out more of my money adding insult to injury.
I guess best thing I can at this point is be that fair warning to anyone else on this forum. I waited too long to reach out for help because I was blinded by my faith in humanity and the continuous phone and email conversations guaranteeing me that "It was coming". It honestly opened my eyes of the extensive measures a crook will go thru to gain your trust, even when you are nothing but a skeptical pain in the ass to them for weeks, requiring 'proof' and 'documentation' and phone calls etc. before a dime is ever exchanged. You think they'd turn away and go for the low hanging fruit. Not the case. Jokes on me though, I turned out to be his perfect 'mark'!
The effort and hoops he jumped thru to prove this was a real deal, the previous feedback on this forum, the fact he shipped the legs, the parts, the cabinet decals and even a gift to go with it all. Every part down to the smallest piece such as the extra plastics and leg bolts, packed with extreme care. It just blows my mind. Leads me to believe he intended to ship this game, then saw an opportunity to make bank once he realized I was at his mercy.
Then again, once I discovered his real identity thanks to other users of this forum, I found a number of articles describing what kind of person we're really dealing with here:
https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/man-faces-charges-in-internet-scam-1.717264
https://rec.games.video.arcade.collecting.narkive.com/KhK6bGtB/anyone-in-calgary-in-this-group
https://www.amvic.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/21-Nov-2019-Directors-Order-JEBSEN-Ivo-Martin-1.pdf
https://user.xmission.com/~daina/blacklist.html#IvoJebsen
There's nothing more I'd like to do than share with you all his address, photos of his home, his vehicles, his phone number etc. all in an effort to save anyone else from making the same mistake from this crook, but alas that would be violating forum policy. At minimum recognize the name and his alter ego's (Derek Gardener being one). And to those of you who stated he's a known member of the pinball community in Calgary, guy should be at minimum banned from your tournaments let alone arrested, especially with his well documented history of screwing people over.
That was a whole lot to say nothing, but I needed that opportunity to vent as I come to realization my $2k is gone. Thanks for all the help and support everyone gave to this point.