My feeling on it is pretty simple and straight forward: Those who commit fraud are scum. And they range all the way up the spectrum from minor petty 'street' con artists to the highest levels of our financial and political systems.
And who could disagree with that statement? I don't.
But the appropriate way to deal with these things is through the trading standards authorities, the police and judiciary system. These things are in place to prevent citizens taking these matters in their own hands.
The fact that this person seems to experience " problems " and doesn't seem to be able to conduct himself with customers in a normal, professional, way (while he appears to have no problem to provide many shops with his work) is no excuse.
He knows, by now, that he cannot fulfill his obligations, continuing to take orders, and more importantly, money, for deliveries that he cannot make his unacceptable. Whether criminal or just a mismanagement matter is a matter for the police to ascertain.
In other words if he cannot conduct his business in a professional way he should have a curator doing this for him. My wife works with lots of people with a number of mental challenges , some have businesses and have a curator who does thing for them, exactly to prevent things going this way.
Complaining to the right people is essential.
There are, I believe agencies (I hope this is not a private company, the web site says gov. which I assume is the government of the US)
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1
If this person has problems to deal with his inability to meet a deadline or to provide a product he should pay someone to supervise him, making a " mistake" is one thing, keep doing it for years and years is an entirely different matter. If metal problems would be a legal excuse then we would have hordes of people with these problems leading companies which take money and don't deliver the goods.
I think it is good to shame him publicly, but I will hold off the tar and feathers because this is not the way to deal with these things in this day and age.
I wonder if it is possible for creditors to team up ( you need to establish a registry) to ask for a court order toward securing the goods by repossessing them. This should temporarily close any activities at the workshop and seal the premises with all its goods inside.
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0221-billed-merchandise-you-never-received#rights
Your Rights When Shopping by Phone, Mail or Online
The Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule applies to most goods you order by mail, phone, fax, or online. It requires sellers to have a reasonable basis for claiming they can ship an order within a certain time and details what sellers should do if there is a delay.
Ship Dates
By law, a seller should ship your order within the time stated in its ads or over the phone.
If the seller doesn't promise a time, you can expect it to ship your order within 30 days.
The shipment "clock" begins when the seller receives a "properly completed order." That includes your name, address and payment (check, money order or authorization to charge an existing credit account - whether the account is charged at that time or not).
If the seller doesn't promise a shipping time, and you are applying for credit to pay for your purchase, the seller has an additional 20 days (50 days total) to establish the account and ship the merchandise.
Delays
I
f the seller is unable to ship within the promised time, it must notify you, give a revised shipping date and give you the chance to cancel for a full refund or accept the new shipping date. The seller also must give you some way to exercise the cancellation option for free - for example, by supplying a prepaid reply card or staffing a toll-free telephone number.
If you don't respond - and the delay is 30 days or less - it's assumed that you accept the delay and are willing to wait for the merchandise.
If you don't respond - and the delay is more than 30 days - the order must be canceled by the 30th day of the delay period and a full refund issued promptly.
If the seller can't meet the revised shipping date, it must notify you again by mail, email or telephone and give you a new shipping date or cancel your order and give you a refund.
The order should be canceled and a refund issued promptly unless you indicate by the revised shipping date that you are willing to wait.
If you don't respond to the second notice, the seller should assume that you are not willing to wait issue a full refund promptly.
Refunds
If you pay by cash, check or money order, or a non-seller credit card, the seller must give you a refund within seven working days after the order is canceled.
If you pay by credit card where the seller is the card issuer, the seller must credit your account within one billing cycle after the order is canceled.