Yeah, he has promised to pay me after he has taken care of his customers (IMHO, the right priority), and I of course expect him to honour his word.

In any case, let this be a lesson to everyone: If you do any work online, be freaking sure to have your payment in escrow before you start.

As already stated, though this entire show might have many of the hallmarks of a scam and many customers indeed feel cheated, I don't think it was ever intended as a scam. I know that Mark has put in a shitload of work into this project, but sadly it seems like he has tried to bite off much more than he can chew, and all along the way his pride has kept him from being open and honest about what has been going on. A really bad combo that we now see the sad result of.