Conned by a 'friend'

[MLJT]

Good morning, everyone.
Well, it appears I've been duped. I've known a university 'friend' since 2013. We worked on a documentary (both of us not getting paid for it) and got a lot of coverage. 'Friend' said he would set up a company with 'Companies house' sharing the profits 50/50 (this was told to me by email on 3 November). His wife had a heart attack, then he went to India for 3 weeks. I asked him in India if he set up the company and he came up with an excuse that he couldn't log on. However, I expressed sympathy about his wife when she had a heart attack beforehand and didn't push him, but we had a lot of zoom meetings in between, with me sharing ideas and contacts as a journalist. However, my 'friend' would also be letting me down last minute with some other excuse; this week he said he could meet 'Friday after 2pm' so I sent him a zoom link, only for him to make me wait on zoom with the excuse that 'apologies, I'm running over, I'm at my brother/father's wake'. Never mentioned anything about it beforehand. He's done that a few times. Sadly it appears that his excuses (and the fact that I've not seen our company or my name found under the company house database after a month) tells me that he just wanted my time and contacts to work on other projects. He's not even bothered to email me this morning. He was the only one I kept in contact with through university so it stings a little this morning. Any advice?

Will you be losing any money if this company is not set up?
Could you set it up alone?
What has he conned you out of and do you have a legal case to recover that?

Block and delete.

Can you set a company up in your name now and move forward. I don’t think you should trust him again.

Sounds more like he's flakey or possibly stressed out and overwhelmed than anything. I doubt he's set out to "dupe you" (unless he has a lot of your money?)

Why can't you set up the company?

Thanks so much everyone. Luckily I didn't invest in everything. Just so disappointed in someone I knew for 8 years. Took him off social media. Here's hoping to a better 2022 with authentic friends. Also learned a lesson; to hold back! This guy is friends with leading filmmakers so I think he's just trying to use my ideas to build his own profile.

(As in, it sounds more like, "let down by a friend" than conned, unless you're leaving some stuff out)

Advice: learn your lesson. Once a friend becomes involved in your professional life in any way, treat them the same as any other contact ie warily. The only person you can truly trust is yourself.

Not leaving any stuff out. Never had a row with him. My husband supported our venture. So true that you can only trust yourself. Not ruling out setting my own company up with my husband as the Co-Director. Just wish people could be honest that they can't or don't want to get involved rather than get flakey or fair-weather.

He sounds flaky but it seems you are being over-dramatic. He didn't con you, did he?

I think a con artist is someone who strings you over three months with no intention of following through in business (falsely stating they set up a company in early november) when you've found evidence to the contrary. I suggested a business plan or contract (never materialised). Also currently unemployed so yes, perhaps a bit sorry for myself at present.

Surely it doesn't matter if a company is set up or not?

What revenue is coming in for this documentary? If he gets it directly and refuses to pay anything you can sue him (costly so may not be worth it over £1000 for example)

Are you credited for the work?

Can you do a search and see if he has set up any companies. This happened to someone I know, they had board meetings and he found out years later that his part in the company had never ever been registered at companies house. They'd lied to my friend for years.

You say your Doc, got a lot of coverage.. do you mean as in press reviews or was it shown on channels or at festivals or on You Tube or was it shown or put on You Tube. There must have been some financial arrangements to make a documentary - and you might need this info for tax reasons.
I think you should look into this more deeply. You can get money for views and adverts on YouTube if you have enough traffic. Does your Doc appear with Ads? Are you able to sign into your You Tube or website or other social media. What does his linked in say? Are you credited on the doc? Did you have a joint email/office account you used to send pitches?
There must be a professional association which might have some advice on this. For example, If you were a musician a recording would be registered with PRS for copyright and you would get a payment depending on how often it was viewed, played etc...
I think for your own peace of mind you should look into this at least make sure you are credited for your role. You might then be able to answer the question of whether he's a con man or just scatty and unreliable and that might help you to move on and find better business partners.
Also I think it might be worth saying it directly like it is.. You keep flaking out on meetings/discussions to the extent its becoming a joke and I am starting to feel like I've been conned. Why?

@MLJT

I think a con artist is someone who strings you over three months with no intention of following through in business (falsely stating they set up a company in early november) when you've found evidence to the contrary. I suggested a business plan or contract (never materialised). Also currently unemployed so yes, perhaps a bit sorry for myself at present.

Well no that is not a con artist. A con artist is somebody who lies to you and tricks you out of something, usually money. This doesn’t seem to the the case here. This is just a person that didn’t get around to something and by the sounds of it when they had a lot on personally. And I am not sure why you couldn’t set up a company yourself anyway.

Thanks very much DuckBilled. Really handy advice. We worked really well together on the documentary. Shared responsibilities down the middle. Full credit both sides. Think I'm actually more sad about someone I thought was a personal 'friend'. In the zoom meetings, I always said it would be great to join up to do a production company with him as we have that element of trust knowing each other from university. Will consider setting up own company. If I'm honest, my intuition had been telling me that the connection was fake - everything was done via emails and zooms. Tempted to tell him how I feel but as my husband says he is not reliable, you don't make people wait on zoom - and if he has a serious event (ie. wake) he would have said in advance that he's got something on. The company closed a few years ago - and there's no reference to the company name. I've emailed companies house to get advice and make some enquiries with the company details, his name and my name. Obviously just used my ideas and suggestions as an unpaid P.A!! You are totally right that the only person you can trust is yourself. Lucky to have a great husband who is my best friend. He's a screenwriter so will be working together on a company. Also, whilst I've been polite to his wife in social situations, found her to be frosty so perhaps it's a blessing in disguise. Wishing all a good 2022.

Good luck OP, wishing you all the best 😊