Former employer has not paid me and its been three months, what are my options?

After I went to work for him, he told me that I needed to put $25,000 dollars in a "bad debt" account that he holds on to (in case a customer does not pay what he owes us). This was not told to me until after I moved my family to go to work. He paid me some each month and put the rest that I made in commission in this slush fund. I was told that if I ever left, it would be paid to me. I had built up $5000 in the short time I worked there. Since I was paid only on commission and had to build up a bad debt account, he paid me under the table, what little he did pay, and said to stay on unemployment until I had my sales high enough to provide for my family. It has been three months since I left, and he has told me that he will not pay me any monies that I am owed. What are my options? Forget about the 5K and chalk it up to a lesson learned? What about the pay under the table? I have proof that I worked for him, through my customers. Can I spread the word that he has not paid me to all of his customers to make him look bad? I was told its not slander if its true. Any help would be appreciated