DEVELOPING STORY: Zeek Receiver Says He Has Secured Nearly $300 Million; ‘There May Be Tens Of Millions Of Dollars More Of Recoverable Assets’; Clawbacks May Be In The Offing As Receiver Raises Specter Of Claimants Circulating ‘False Information’
Kenneth D. Bell, the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme case, said in a statement today that he had recovered nearly $300 million and that “[t]here may be tens of millions of dollars more of recoverable assets.”
On Aug. 17, the SEC described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that had affected more than 1 million people.
Securing receivership assets has been his “first priority” since his Aug. 17 appointment by Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen, Bell said.
Bell’s statement appeared today on the receiver’s website. He noted that clawback actions may be in the offing, although he didn’t specify when.
“Among those from whom we intend to recover assets are those affiliates who took more out of Rex Ventures than they put in,” Bell said.
Rex Venture Group LLC is North Carolina-based Zeek’s parent company.
“Many of you received little or nothing from this enterprise,” Bell said. “In order to make everyone as whole as possible, those who profited from participating should surrender their gains.”
And Bell said he was aware that bogus information about Zeek was spreading online.
“Finally,” Bell said, “I read in many emails and web postings that some affiliates claim to have spoken to me or the SEC. False information is being circulated by these claimants. I have not spoken to any of those claiming to have done so. I will communicate with you through this web site. If I could answer all of the hundreds of thousands of emails and calls from you I would, but obviously I can’t. I also recommend that you consider only what the SEC posts on its web site for its position on this matter.”
In an Aug. 27 statement, Bell said that his “early investigation shows that the number of victims could be double” the SEC’s Aug. 17 estimate of 1 million.
“By sheer number of victims, this is one of the largest, if not the largest, Ponzi scheme to go into receivership in U.S. history,” Bell said in the Aug. 27 statement.
Visit the receiver’s website. Read the Sept. 13, 2012, statement from the receiver.
I wonder if this will take the wind out of Craddock’s sails. Idiots !!
Patrick:
In successful clawback cases do the names of those from whom funds have been recovered become public information?
If so, that would sure put a chill on the serial ponzi leaders to see their compatriots (and/or themselves) brought to light as illegal ponzi schemers.
ARWR
HI ARWR,
If the receiver in a Ponzi case files suit or issues reports to the court, the names could become public.
Patrick
I loved what Dave Kettner had to say about today’s message from Mr. Bell. In today’s “Zeek Samurai” Update Dave said, and I quote:
“.,..Some people have been receiving generic emails from the receiver…please disregard as it is nothing important..,.”
I am so very relieved to know that the people in charge of the clawbacks are so very well aware of what Todd Disner, Dave Kettner and Robert Craddock are doing.
As Kettner doesn’t answer to to Paul Burks, at best he’s a ronin (samurai without a master).
But he does answer to Todd Disner, so maybe he’s a Ponzurai.
Quick note: The word “victims” appears three times in today’s statement by the receiver.
In the Aug. 27 statement, a form of the word “victim” appeared 13 times.
So, in two statements, the receiver used “victim” or a form of the word 16 times.
And yet some of Craddock’s troops are claiming there are no victims and telling folks that “Some people have been receiving generic emails from the receiver…please disregard as it is nothing important.”
Naturally there have been repeated efforts on the Ponzi boards to poison the well against the receiver.
Imagine trying to score PR points for Zeek from MoneyMakerGroup while you’re promoting, say, ProfitClicking or Wealth4AllTeam.
Patrick
Just Ponzu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzu
I posted the numbers somewhere else, but another internet gospel myth is people saying the receiver’s legal fees are going to eat up all the money. Not true. The fee for the case I looked at ran less than a million dollars (for some reason I think it may have been either CEP or 12DP) meaning that even though this is a much more complex case I’d expect the $4 million fine to still more than cover the receivership estate.
>>>another internet gospel myth is people saying the receiver’s legal fees are going to eat up all the money. Not true. The fee for the case I looked at ran less than a million dollars<<<
In these cases people are usually lucky to get 5-10c on the dollar back. I just got a check for $80 after 10 years – 10% of what I lost.
Those who expect money back from this will be waiting at least 3-5 years and, as usual, the only real winners are lawyers.
Well, except in the last big HYIP ponzi to be busted, AdSurf Daily in which verified victims received a 100% return of their losses.
Don’t forget Madoff victims are getting 40% back.
I’d like to know how the receiver will enforce any type of clawback laws on the people from other countries.
He’ll bring suits in other countries, they have court’s too.
Hello Joyce,
I am not privy to the receiver’s litigation plan or his strategy.
What I do know is that, when money makes its way “offshore” (from a U.S. perspective) in one of these corrupt schemes, it can be particularly difficult to recover.
These schemes raise significant concerns about BOTH economic security and national security. Some international scammers already are bragging on the Ponzi forums how the United States never will get their money.
At a minimum, Zeek’s cash-sucking ability was $600 million. That is more than the 2013 budget for Las Vegas, a city of about 590,000 residents.
One way to look at these schemes is that they can suck wealth from an entire city. And because downline groups often are formed at the local level in community after community, then wealth gets sucked from those individual communities — driving things such as mortgage foreclosures.
Add the reach of the Internet, and these schemes simply become untenable because they have tentacles that reach into banks and other funding sources in community after community globally.
Patrick
Lexington Dispatch covered this very topic just few days ago:
http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20120912/COLUMNISTS/309129992/-1/news?Title=Zeek-Rewards-slows-economic-growth
One of the earliest comments was “There was no victims until the SEC moved in”.
If a victim that’s ignorant of his status as a victim is a victim nonetheless. Ignorance, in this case, is NOT bliss.
Newsflash: Zeek former PR guy Clifton Jolley revealed that Paul Burks had a long history of deceiving people… Burks was formerly known as “the singing magician” in the late 1980’s. Apparently when he couldn’t make it as a singing magician, he turned to MLM. Last newspaper mention of Burks performing was in 1990.
http://amlmskeptic.blogspot.com/2012/09/persuasion-former-zeek-pr-man-confirmed.html
RVG was “founded” around 1996?
Rex Venture Group was founded in January 2003. He founded Ages, Inc, in January 1991 and Signed and Numbered was started in June 1997, which was replaced by Lighthouse America in 1998. New Net Mail in 1999 and Free Store Club I believe in 2001.
Thanks for the correction. That’s ANOTHER part of their ambiguity. RVG is not 15 years old. He’s actually counting Lighthouse America or one of those shell companies.
Quick note: A Zeek “defender” trying to post under multiple user identities (again) today is advancing a conspiracy theory that I am “K. Chang.”
“Your done,” the conspiracy theorist menaces.
Patrick
Fascinating how much effort these clowns put in to being wrong all the time.
I’m just horrified by the rotten spelling and grammar. If these people would read a book once in a while, then maybe they wouldn’t have been scammed.
You can’t argue with the logic there, obviously Kasey doesn’t want to be associated with an anti-Zeek position so he set up this blog as a cover for his opinion.
5 years ago
really
Yep, got a “JJersey” and “informed” (posted previously as “Jerry”) doing the same thing on my hub, out of Columbus Ohio.
Claiming that all your “enemies” or critics are the same people using different aliases are a common scam defense.
A couple years back, when I was slamming the TVI Express scam, some Indians defenders think I’m one of the local critics and threaten to come to where I live and “play tabala in your ase”.
http://kschang.blogspot.com/2010/04/tvi-express-shills-threaten-to-visit-me.html
No, Wasp Nest: I am not going to publish your attempt to dupe Zeek victims into NOT filing a claim.
Patrick
I’m surprised it has taken this long for that to happen.
No, you don’t get it Gregg. He’s claiming Patrick is masquerading as me! :D