Apparently there are some eastern europeans looking for him, if other posts i have seen are to be allegedly believed.
Tanxien, all we can do is to alert newbies and other designers/programmers as to the current state of play. If he has vanished i dont hold out much hope of obtaining fair compensation. You are welcome to add your design skills / portfolio (as is everyone else) to this area of oprano
http://www.oprano.com/msgboard/index.php?showforum=24 so that others may hire you directly.
I sincerely wish you and the other designers who have been scammed the best of luck in seeking compensation.