
Dealing with IP and hardware theft - iwcai
I recently hired an iOS developer to handle some API work. Long story short the nutjob has ran off with a piece of sample hardware that is potentially valuable. Instead of actually completing the work (which another developer has done in less than a day) he resorted to making us look pretty bad in front of a key partner and is withholding our medical device and blackmailing us for payment on balance. The contract address ended up being some bogus mailbox in SF. Wondering if there is any recourse? We do not want this guy running around the valley with our code and this hardware.
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techjuice
Best thing you can do is make a report with you local police station, and talk
with an attorney. You can also report the crimes to the FBI (IC3) -
[https://www.ic3.gov/faq/default.aspx](https://www.ic3.gov/faq/default.aspx)
if your attorney recommends it and the value lost is very large.

You should also take the individual to court since multiple crimes have
possibly occurred (blackmail, possibly extortion, using false pretenses in
gaining work, fraud by not completing work, Larceny, possession of stolen
goods, theft and many more criminal offenses.) Depending on the value of the
work and hardware stolen it may become a large number of large felony
offenses.

Sounds like all of these were conducted online, with no face to face local
meetups? When your work involves hardware it is normally recommended to only
deal with people face to face and use escro for payments. Do you still have
the signed contracts, if so keep it along with any other electronic or
physical communications you may had with the individual.

Did the person give you anything your able to have your attorney get a warrant
for information on (email address, online username for a service, etc.) to
gather their real name and location?

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iwcai
I actually did meet him face to face to get him started. I will call local
police and report the items as stolen. Do you have any information on the
possibility of it being a felony? He's got roughly 50k worth of
hardware/software. All communications are safely kept. I've got an address for
a mailbox registered to him. Two email addresses and a couple of IP's.

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techjuice
The value/type of the stolen property is normally what starts to make it a
felony if it exceeds a states maximum for being a misdemeanor. If the value is
around 50k then it is a felony and jail time should be served for the crimes
committed. Normally a misdemeanor tops out at $250-$500, after that it starts
getting into different levels of felony, normally 1st being the lowest and
increasing in minimum probation or sentencing, fines, etc. that have to be
paid as the level increases.

Talk with your attorney on Monday to get the ball rolling. Hopefully you will
be able to have your attorney prosecute the guy, but while your at it be sure
to file charges after talking with your attorney with the local police and
FBI.

