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I am not an attorney, and offer my opinion in the war against scammers. Based upon the limited information you were able to provide, you may or may not be in possession of valuable tracing information. Are you in fact able to prove with a reasonable certainty that you and/or your friend are due the amount claimed?
You mentioned that payments were previously received. If these payments were made by bank check, and you made photo copies prior to deposit, those copies will provide you with valuable information. Knowing the whereabouts of a debtors bank account will prove very useful.
On the surface this appears to be a simple civil matter, however I see Unified Productions, Inc. is not a legal Nevada corporation. All Nevada corporations are required to maintain a resident agent within the state of Nevada.
In the event of any legal proceedings, the resident agent, whose name and address is recorded with the Nevada Secretary of State would be the receiver of any legal proceeding notices.
If you are in a smaller community, you may have the advantage of enlisting the assistance of local law enforcement because of the dollar amount. A 20 thousand dollar fraud case is big crime in a town of 15,000 people. Unfortunately if you happen to be in a larger city, this case would more than likely be fast tracked to the cold case files.
At the end of the day, you still are left with a civil matter, however there are some very easy ways to turn up the heat on those who allegedly scammed you. The fraud investigation unit of the Nevada Secretary of State has long had a reputation of being aggressive in these type matters. They will send or fax you an initial complaint form, and they will follow-up with you upon receipt of your complaint. You realize, this alone does not get your money back (in most cases), because Nevada SOS will do everything in it's power to stop people from pretending to be Nevada corporations.
The United States Postal Inspector is someone to get on your side, along with your own state's Attorney General. In most cases, if you make the complaint, providing enough evidence of wrongdoing, these agencies will attempt to make contact with the offender.
Start the ball rolling. If you choose to bring action in the civil court, and depending upon the local court rules, it may be possible to get started without an attorney. Personally this is the best part of the hunt for justice. After you have filed with the clerks office (depending on your location) You will be able to issue subpoenas to those you wish to appear. There are different type of subpoenas. You might find a "appear and produce" subpoena very effective. Your local court and/or State will have rules as to how a subpoena must be delivered to potential witnesses, including at minimum some sort of certified delivery. The method I prefer is paying the recipient's local sheriff to do personal service. Having Johnny law knock on their door at 7 in the morning can be an attention getter. the price will vary widely across the country from $10 to $300.
I would go after the mail box etc they used to receive their mail, the bank who holds their account, their ISP. After dragging them into the eye of the storm, you might just find them very helpful in locating your scammers.
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