I have a contract with a japanese company to do technical work. I first had a contract with one of the owner's other companies, but the finance guy at that firm kept forgetting to pay me or sending me too little, etc. (I suspected he was doing something sneaky, I think this is slowly being proven.). The owner sent me a contract from another company he owned(where he controlled the purse strings) putting me on a monthly wage/retainer to be paid in full at the start of each month as a technical contractor.
Initially, he was paying off the past debt, then he began paying me from the first company again, then back to his company, etc. It was hard to track his payments against the debt because they were never regular. Overall though, they seemed to be paying down the overall balance. And then they started missing months, etc. I realized they were falling behind and went through wires they sent and found they were 43k behind on my wages. I have been chasing them throughout the year and occasionally get large wires from them, but then they wait so long to send the next payment they don't dent the debt. I have been sending invoices to them (and they've sent reformatted versions back to me through slack because their bank requires one format) and I've sent them receipts for how recent payments were applied along with updated bills.
My contract just ended/is ending in May. I am facing financial ruin if they don't pay me. I have found a new job, but don't start until July. I am not telling anyone at my company until I am paid.
They are not answering my messages. We all work remotely, so I cannot just walk into the owner's office. I do have his japanese addresses and information about his companies.
The contract says I must be paid in full on contract termination. (It provides a brief window to pay, 2 weeks iirc).
Assuming the contract is good (which is a big assumption), do I have any ability to enforce this contract? Or will legal fees destroy that 35k before I have a chance at seeing the funds?
Is there a site that lists and shames companies that do this so they can't trick other people?