If the failure was found before May 22nd or June, it is definitely an internet scam and a fraudulent criminal.
It would be a key piece of evidence to know exactly when Alpha-T found out about the ASIC problems, IF there ever was a plan to produce an ASIC. Soliciting payments and reassuring potential customers that everything was ok and on schedule after this discovery would not look good.
Eric Gunn, VP of ASIC development and supply chain management would know for sure.
He would be a key witness in any legal proceeding.
I will appreciate if you can provide Eric's contact. As the last email in June that still told us that everything is on track and the delivery will be in July shows they were in completing assembly process and shipment as the TOC said, it was impossible for them to discover a technical failure that should happen in early development stages.