You'll find that nearly all investors have been reluctant to come forward, partly from a false hope of being repaid someday but also the systematic way that Dean intimidates and silences anyone who has spoken up.
Could you elaborate a little more on that? I wonder what sort of power he uses to silence the people? Definitely sounds like a criminal to me.
Nearly every message and post on these forums is aimed towards gaslighting.
In no particular order, there's lying- reading back through these forums I've found cases where his private and public messages completely conflict (some even sent on the same day), meaning that both he and I know that he's not telling someone the truth.
Then there's blame-shifting- he has a long list of perceived enemies that he'll go on about in extended rants. Everyone is against him, primarily everyone on this forum, but also the investors who were too selfish to pour in more money after all their money disappeared.
He works hard at instilling a feeling of powerlessness- many people have tried to give him constructive suggestions which he quickly rejects ("wouldn't work/tried it before") and then turns back to his enemies list. Powerlessness also comes from the "nobody should sue me because others have tried and failed and there's no money". See also "If you come forward and seek help or speak the truth, I'll put you on the enemies list and you will never get repaid". The language he used in this forum was something like "you'll go to the back of the line" or the "end of the list".
He avoids responsibility for what he did but instead goes ballistic on anyone who even hints at "something's not right here". Even the bare minimum of an apology showing genuine remorse would have earned him so much goodwill because people are quick to forgive in my experience.