Something relevant to keep in mind is the scammer is not obligated to have a one track mind. He has 25K of their money, as far as I can tell still has it and based on the guys history has run this many times. He can run this scheme in parallel perhaps 10 companies and for 9 he disappears and the tenth he spends 250K and owns a chunk of a "4M company". Note that he ran for the hills when he got in over his head and figured out that giving a "4M company" that folds when it loses 25K is probably not a good use of 250K. Some other company will be getting that 250K.