Is this client a coward?

He come to know me through this forum, and trust me for doing the sourcing work for him at the beginning, certainly he had investigate me through the whole forum here, and I also told him everything about me that I working personally for everything myself, as I can afford to all work for sourcing and logistics.

We talk through IM, and they are nice talking. we also talk about families. The work started, he checked out all the newest and hotsale item at present to show me everything he need, such like planter, Ripstik(scooter), bendaroos,finger boards, solar bicycle light, finger board, Lump R Grip, Swing scooter, etc. some of the items are the first time that I deal, and from our communicate he made me understand all of the item. Do you know that all these are the new item in the market, certainly it is not easy to get this purchasing list ready, searching experienced professional supplier,  comparing prices, it took me almost one week full time of each day for this job, and finally get the purchasing list ready and forward to my client for approval, finally he selected several items and ask me to go ahead with samples. So, I went ahead for sample purchasing from each suppliers, as this takes already much time, and I could not work out the freight unless I get all the samples on hand to work out the weight. So I take money from my own pocket to pay to each suppliers, and wait till I work out the freight and could ask client to pay together.

All samples reached me and worked out the freight:
You can not imaging what happened!

"Hi Kenny
 
I have given this situation some thought over the last few days and have come to the following conclusion.
 
I am looking for an agent who can find me products and then give me the details required to place direct orders with suppliers in china. This is crucial to my business and I cannot and will not have one person who potentially could stop my business trading should they fall ill or we have a disagreement etc. This is not good business practice and is unthinkable.
 
I am looking for someone registered with the correct authorities in case I encounter any issues with export arrangements etc. I really need someone who is declaring income and recording our business dealings. It would be a disaster to encounter a problem with goods and then discover the agent is not even declaring earnings and unwilling to detail their involvement because of this.
 
I am looking for an agent who has references from businesses (because they have had professional business dealings), not because they have posted threads on a buying forum. This is not a reference and alibaba is well known for having a large proportion of scammers listed on it. I would expect references from businesses that can be validated and are meaningful.
 
I require someone who will be my eyes and ears in china to help me avoid the pitfalls of business dealings so far away from home. This would only be possible by someone who is not operating a business 'under the radar' of their government.
 
So with much regret, I am unable to continue business negotiations with you and hope you understand. I am putting my families future on the line with this venture and cannot afford to take these kind of chances.
 
I am sorry for the wasted effort on your part and if I learn anything from this experience it will be to seek more validation from agents in future as this has cost me considerable time which makes my chancs of getting goods ready for busy our christmas period unlikely. You may have lost some time and effort but this has very likely cost me thousands of pounds in lost revenue."

This client is still working for a company, and try to creat his own business.

Finally, he is a coward, I am sure.