Voya.. I don't know that a police officer will want to touch that. Since these two guys did not witness the removal of the vehicle from the property, he could say anything and there's no way to prove what happened.

Your friends' best chances are going to be a civil suit in magisrtate court for breach of contract.

In criminal court, the standard of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt.

In civil court, your friends need only meet the standard of 'by proponderence of the evidence.' which is much more flexible. If they can get his social security number, they can have the guy's wages docked.