NH - Contractor theft

[criticalthinker]

Per a written agreement with a former contractor, any company property that is in their possession must be returned to the company at the end of the contract.

In this case the contractor at first claimed not to have the property any longer, and then upon further questioning admitted that they had it but refused all requests to return it. To make matters worse, the contractor is Canadian and we're a US business with no office in Canada.

While I am aware that I can enforce the contract through a court, is it possible to simply have the matter handled by local police as property theft? Wouldn't this qualify as such?

 

[SilkKnitter]

Per a written agreement with a former contractor, any company property that is in their possession must be returned to the company at the end of the contract.

In this case the contractor at first claimed not to have the property any longer, and then upon further questioning admitted that they had it but refused all requests to return it. To make matters worse, the contractor is Canadian and we're a US business with no office in Canada.

While I am aware that I can enforce the contract through a court, is it possible to simply have the matter handled by local police as property theft? Wouldn't this qualify as such?

Call the police and file a compliant. Then see where you stand. Besides if its worth it to a lawyer he might just take the case IF he gets a percentage of the sueings.