If you go back to Wilster's one and only post, Mr. Liguori is but another victim of Porrata.
He seems to be only the most recent figure to be set up and lurked behind.
I don 't have a sense for whether Mr. Abbott was paid or not. The entire NC deal is a mystery.
But, I don't know where the cash would gave originated to pay him. If they can't find buyers, they don't have cash as there are no products to sell. However, they could have found another investor.