PatrickPretty.com

Category: Ad Surf Daily

  • BULLETIN: Judge Declines To Recuse Herself — And Denies Motion By ASD Figures Todd Disner And Dwight Owen Schweitzer To Reopen Lawsuit

    BULLETIN: AdSurfDaily figures Todd Disner and Dwight Owen Schweitzer will not be permitted to reopen their lawsuit against the government and get a different judge to hear it.

    U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District of Columbia this morning denied a motion by the ASD duo that she recuse herself from the case. At the same time, Collyer denied a motion by Disner and Schweitzer to reopen the case.

    “A judge’s sworn duty is to judge with fairness and impartiality, and absent a showing otherwise, a judge is presumed to be impartial,” Collyer ruled.

    Disner and Schweitzer made no such showing, Collyer ruled.

    “Plaintiffs have presented no reasonable argument why this matter should be transferred to another judge,” Collyer ruled. “Further, Plaintiffs do not present sufficient facts that would lead an objective observer to believe that the Court has rendered a biased decision in this matter.”

    With respect to the Disner/Schweitzer motion to reopen the case, Collyer said this (italics added):

    Plaintiffs were victims of an internet Ponzi scheme called AdSurfDaily, Inc. (ASD). Federal agents investigated ASD for wire fraud and money laundering and, pursuant to warrants, federal agents seized approximately $80 million of ASD’s funds and related assets. The Government obtained in rem forfeiture judgments against the funds and other property purchased with ASD monies. Plaintiffs brought this suit, alleging that the warrants and the seizure of the funds were invalid and seeking a declaratory judgment that their Fourth Amendment rights were violated.

    Because Plaintiffs lacked standing to raise a Fourth Amendment claim and because they had no privacy interest in financial records they voluntarily conveyed to ASD, the Court dismissed the Complaint on August 29, 2012 . . .

    A motion for reconsideration need not be granted unless the court finds there is an intervening change of controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice . . .

    A motion to reconsider is not “simply an opportunity to reargue facts and theories upon which a court has already ruled” . . . Nor is it an avenue for a “losing party . . . to raise new issues that could have been raised previously” . . .

    Plaintiffs’ motion falls woefully short of this demanding standard. Plaintiffs do not allege an intervening change of controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice. They merely reargue the same points they previously raised . . .

    On Sept. 17, Disner and Schweitzer accused Collyer of “sophistry” in her handling of their lawsuit. The ASD duo insisted that ASD was a legitimate enterprise even after ASD President Andy Bowdoin pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May and admitted ASD was a Ponzi scheme.

    In separate court actions brought by the government on ASD-related matters, Collyer has ordered the forfeiture of more than $80 million. That money was set aside to compensate victims of Bowdoin’s crime.

    About 9,000 ASD victims already have received a total of about $59 million in compensation, and the government says it plans to reopen claims to victims who missed the January 2011 filing deadline because the ASD database very likely did not include the names of all members.

    In their motion to reopen the case, Disner and Schweitzer curiously argued that Collyer — despite Bowdoin’s guilty plea, acknowledgment that ASD was a Ponzi scheme and prison sentence of 78 months — should have assigned more weight to the opinions of purported multilevel-marketing experts that ASD was not a Ponzi scheme.

    They further ventured that Bowdoin’s confession was “coerced,” even though Bowdoin himself said it was not.

    After their ASD days, both Disner and Schweitzer became pitchmen for Zeek Rewards, which the SEC described in August as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    ASD was a Ponzi scheme that gathered at least $119 million, federal prosecutors said.

  • UPDATES: (1) Cyberstalker Resurfaces To Claim The Zeek ‘Defense Fund Is Snowballing’ And To Accuse PP Blog And Supporters Of Communism; (2) Blog Receives Separate Email That Plants Seed It Is A ‘Mercenary/Assassin For The SEC & NCAG’; (3) A Series Of Death Threats

    A cyberstalker who has used more than a dozen usernames and bogus email addresses to send harassing communications to the PP Blog resurfaced today after an absence of days.

    The stalker appears to be sending unwanted communications from a series of IPs in the region of Columbus, Ohio.

    Today’s would-be posting bid was targeted at a Sept. 26 story thread titled “SEC Says Zeek Probe ‘Is Continuing’; Agency Updates Information Page.”

    Here is what the would-be poster claimed (italics added):

    Not even a road bump in the affiliates vs the SEC. The amount of support is snowballing. The defense fund is snowballing, and you guys will look so f’n stupid for your communist thought process. down with this stupid website and it’s little communist followers.

    The communication was received at 11:37 a.m. EDT.

    Earlier, at 10:19 a.m., the PP Blog received a strange Zeek-related email that appears to quote an individual dubbed “Steel.”

    Among the claims attributed to “Steel” was this one (italics added):

    In fact, your [sic] creating this un-substantiated linkage between ASD & Zeek, makes you look more like a mercenary/assassin for the SEC & [North Carolina Attorney General] than an impartial observer and reporter.

    These words appeared below the section of the email attributed to “Steel” (italics added):

    Individually We Are Weak – Together We Are Strong[.] We Can Win This Battle & We Will Win The Zeek War.

    The PP Blog is reporting tonight that, on Aug. 6, it received a disturbing communication that “mercenaries” needed to be “[sent] out” to “take out those corrupt bankers, USG politicians, agents, judges and attorney’s that cause us all harm and demages [sic].”

    That communication went on to identify three prominent U.S. politicians — all of whom no longer are in office — and questioned why “[Prominent Politician A’s Name Deleted by PP Blog] and both [Prominent Politician B and C’s Names deleted by PP Blog] [are] still alive and running around?”

    The PP Blog reported the disturbing email to a U.S. law-enforcement agency. The Blog is declining to identify the office once held by the prominent politicians.

    “JUST LOOK AT the insane NAZI driven USA,” the email read in part.

    On Aug. 29, the PP Blog received a death threat targeted at another individual. The Blog reported that communication, as well.

    On Aug. 30, the PP Blog itself received a death threat. Here is part of that message, which incongruously ended with a smilie (italics added):

    . . . we don’t need to worry because we will pay Mr Patrick Pretty a visit. He is already under the sniper’s cross-hair and he will go down. :)

    The Aug. 30 death threat appears to be related to the Blog’s coverage of “Profit Clicking,” the “program” that evolved from JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid.

    ProfitClicking/JSS/JBP, AdSurfDaily and Zeek are known to have had members in common.

  • Government Opposes Bids By ASD Figures Todd Disner And Dwight Owen Schweitzer To Reopen Lawsuit And Boot Federal Judge From Case

    AdSurfDaily figures Todd Disner and Dwight Owen Schweitzer should not be permitted to reopen their lawsuit against the government for alleged misdeeds in bringing the ASD Ponzi-scheme case in August 2008, government lawyers said in court filings today.

    Moreover, the bid by Disner and Schweitzer to force U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer of the District of Columbia to recuse herself from the case should fail because the ASD duo’s “dissatisfaction with the Court’s rulings is not a basis for recusal,” the lawyers said.

    Disner and Schweitzer, who became pitchmen for the alleged Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme after their ASD days ended, sued the United States in November 2011. Collyer dismissed their lawsuit in late August, ruling that Disner and Schweitzer lacked standing to bring their 4th Amendment claim.

    Collyer dismissed the case on Aug. 29, the same date upon which she sentenced ASD operator Andy Bowdoin to 78 months in federal prison. Bowdoin, 77, admitted in May that ASD was a Ponzi scheme and that the firm never operated lawfully from its 2006 inception.

    Summoning a fancy word in their bid to force Collyer to step down, Disner and Schweitzer accused the judge of “sophistry.”

    The move by Disner and Schweitzer to prevent Collyer from hearing ASD-related matters was at least the third. Two others failed — one by purported “sovereign” being Curtis Richmond in 2009 and another by Bowdoin himself in 2009.

    “Plaintiffs’ motion to reopen and set aside the Court’s Order of August 29, 2012, merely rehashes arguments previously raised and fails to demonstrate any error, let alone clear error, in the Court’s ruling granting Defendant’s motion to dismiss. Likewise, the record provides no support for Plaintiffs’ motion to recuse Judge Collyer and this motion, too, should be dismissed,” the government said.

    ASD was a Ponzi scheme that raised at least $119 million, federal prosecutors said.

    Zeek Rewards was a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, the SEC said on Aug. 17.

    Precisely when Disner and Schweitzer joined Zeek is unclear.

    What is clear is that some very strange events have occurred since the U.S. Secret Service brought the civil portion of the ASD Ponzi case in 2008.

    Purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming is jailed near Seattle on charges he brought false liens against Collyer, three federal prosecutors and a U.S. Secret Service agent who had roles in the case.

    Leaming was arrested by an FBI Terrorism Task Force in November 2011. He since has sued President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. Separately, Leaming sued a county sheriff in Arkansas.

    Some ASD members claimed Leaming was doing legal work for them, even though he is not an attorney.

    Disner, who solicited funds to sue the government for alleged misdeeds in the ASD case, also was involved in an effort by Zeek figure Robert Craddock to raise funds to intervene in the Zeek case.

    Precisely how Craddock intends to do that is unclear.

  • ASD UPDATES BLOG: Victims Of AdSurfDaily Ponzi Scheme Who Missed Filing Deadline For Remissions Should Get Paperwork In Order And Contact U.S. Attorney’s Office To Receive Claim Form

    On Aug. 29, the PP Blog reported that U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer has authorized the U.S. Department of Justice to reopen remissions claims for victims of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme who missed the January 2011 filing deadline.

    Earlier in August, prosecutors advised Collyer that “it is entirely possible” ASD’s database did not contain the names of all members and that money remained to provide a disbursement.

    Under the plan, qualifying members who missed the filing deadline could receive a pro rata share of the remainder of funds seized by the U.S. Secret Service in August 2008.

    Although the date upon which the Justice Department will reopen remissions still is not known, the ASDUpdates Blog is reporting today that “they expect something to happen within the next few months regarding Claim Forms and submission of documents.”

    Visit ASDUpdates to get important info on the new round of remissions.

    Visit the ASD victims’ info site site at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia.

     

  • ‘Investor-Fraud Summits’ Set For 6 U.S. Cities: Stamford, Conn.; Nashville, Tenn.; San Francisco; Denver; Cleveland And Miami

    What: Investor Fraud Summits.

    Where/When: Stamford, Conn. (today from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT at the University of Connecticut – Stamford Campus); Nashville, Tenn. (Oct. 4 from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT at Vanderbilt University Law School’s Flynn Auditorium located at 131 21st Avenue South) ; San Francisco (Oct. 9, in Walnut Creek, Calif., from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. PDT at the Rossmoor Retirement Community – Gateway Complex located at 1001 Rain Road); Denver (Oct. 10 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. MDT at the Tivoli Building – Turnhalle Auditorium located at 900 Auraria Parkway, Suite 150); Cleveland (Oct. 11 in Beachwood, Ohio, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT at the Montefiore Senior Living Center located at 1 David Myers Parkway); and Miami (Oct. 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT at the Miami Dade College – in the Chapman Conference Center, located at 245 N.E. Fourth Street, Bldg. 3, Room 3210).

    Why: Investment fraud losses have been “staggering,” the Justice Department says.

    Since the beginning of 2011, “the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and 85 U.S. Attorneys’ offices have reported that approximately 800 defendants have been charged, tried, pleaded or sentenced in approximately 500 federal prosecutions involving investor fraud. The total reported amount cheated from victims for this time period tops more than $20 billion.”

    Summit Sponsors: Department of Justice, U.S. Attorneys’ offices, the FBI, the SEC, the FTC, the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the CFTC, the Bankruptcy Trustees, FINRA, AARP and the Better Business Bureau.

    Top law-enforcement officials will be on hand at each of the summits. See the Justice Department news release for details.

  • Month After Zeek Ponzi Complaint By SEC, ASD Figures (And Zeek Pitchmen) Todd Disner And Dwight Owen Schweitzer Accuse Judge Who Dismissed Their ASD-Related Lawsuit Of ‘Sophistry’; Duo Tries To Reopen Case And Have Judge Removed

    MLM pitchmen and AdSurfDaily figures Todd Disner and Dwight Owen Schweitzer — both of whom went on to become promoters of the alleged Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme — have accused a federal judge of “sophistry.”

    Sophistry, according to Dictionary.com, means “a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning.”

    Disner turned to MLM after his days as a founder of the Quiznos sandwhich franchise. Schweitzer is a former attorney whose license was suspended in Connecticut. Both men live in southern Florida.

    The curious assertion by Disner and Schweitzer against U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer appeared on Collyer’s court docket in the District of Columbia on Sept. 17, one month to the day after the SEC alleged in the western District of North Carolina that the Zeek Rewards MLM “program” was a $600 million Ponzi scheme and pyramid fraud that potentially had affected more than 1 million people.

    Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen of the western District of North Carolina is presiding over the Zeek case. Kenneth D. Bell is the court-appointed receiver.

    Zeek and ASD are known to have members in common.

    The ASD Ponzi scheme, which collapsed in 2008, affected at least 97,000 people and created at least 9,000 victims, federal prosecutors said.

    Disner and Schweitzer also were pitchmen for ASD, which federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia have described as a $119 million Ponzi scheme marketed MLM-style. The ASD duo sued the United States in November 2011, claiming their records in ASD’s database were private and thus unlawfully seized and accusing federal prosecutors and a U.S. Secret Service agent of presenting a “tissue of lies” when bringing the civil- forfeiture case against $65.8 million in the bank accounts of ASD President Andy Bowdoin in August 2008.

    On Aug. 29, Collyer sentenced Bowdoin to 78 months in federal prison. Bowdoin, 77, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May 2012, admitting in a statement of offense that ASD was a Ponzi scheme and that his business never operated lawfully from its inception in 2006.

    Collyer dismissed the Disner/Schweitzer complaint on the same day she sentenced Bowdoin.

    But Disner and Schweitzer now claim Bowdoin’s admission “was a necessary part of his plea bargain” with the government. They further assert that Bowdoin’s admission was the “coerced confession of an 80 year old man.”

    In court filings in May, however, Bowdoin said this:

    “I have read this Plea Agreement and discussed it with my attorneys, Michael McDonnell, Esq. and Charles Murray, Esq. I fully understand this Plea Agreement and agree to it without reservation. I do this voluntarily and of my own free will, intending to be legally bound. No threats have been made against me nor am I under the influence of anything that could impede my ability to understand this Plea Agreement fully. I am pleading guilty because I am in fact guilty of the offense(s) identified in this Plea Agreement.” (Italics/bolding added by PP Blog.)

    In the filing docketed Sept. 17, Disner and Schweitzer claim the Secret Service “manufactured” events to ensure that the ASD case was heard by Collyer. Earlier, Disner and Schweitzer advanced a theory that undercover agents who joined ASD in 2008 had a duty to identify themselves to ASD management.

    Even after Bowdoin pleaded guilty in May, Disner and Schweitzer contended that the government’s case was a “house of cards,” according to court filings.

    Disner and Schweitzer now have asked for their lawsuit to be reopened and to have Collyer removed from the case. In ASD-related litigation, Collyer has ordered the forfeiture of more than $80 million.

    The bid by Disner and Schweitzer to have Collyer removed from ASD-related litigation is at least the third. In 2009, purported “sovereign” being Curtis Richmond unsuccessfully sought to have Collyer removed. So did Bowdoin.

    Disner is now involved with purported Zeek Rewards consultant Robert Craddock in an effort to raise money to challenge either the SEC or the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek case.

    Among the early theories advanced by Craddock was that Mullen — the judge in the Zeek case — was playing politics by appointing Bell’s firm as the receiver to enable the firm to gorge itself on fees.

    Both ASD and Zeek were accused of selling unregistered securities as investment contracts. The U.S. Secret Service brought the ASD case, with the SEC bringing the Zeek case.

    The Secret Service confirmed on Aug. 17 that it also was investigating Zeek. The SEC said that, since January 2011, Zeek had “raised more than $600 million from approximately 1 million investors nationwide and overseas by making unregistered offers and sales of
    securities through the ZeekRewards website in the form of Premium Subscriptions
    and VIP Bids.”

    Zeek was an arm of North Carolina-based Rex Venture Group LLC and was operated by Paul R. Burks, the SEC said.

    In their filing accusing Collyer of sophistry, Disner and Schweitzer appear to suggest that Collyer needs a lesson in MLM from purported MLM expert Keith Laggos and MLM attorney Gerald Nehra.

    Laggos, an  SEC defendant in a 2004 case that alleged he issued laudatory press releases without disclosing he was being compensated, is listed in court records as a Zeek consultant. Laggos settled the 2004 SEC case without admitting or denying liability but agreeing to pay more than $30,000, including a $19,500 civil penalty.

    Laggos once opined that ASD was not a Ponzi scheme. Nehra also opined that ASD was not a Ponzi scheme. Richard W. Waak, Nehra’s law partner, is listed in court filings by Zeek as an attorney for the firm.

    Read the Disner/Schweitzer motion to remove Collyer.

    Screen shot of section of motion by ASD figures Todd Disner and Dwight Owen Schweitzer to remove Judge Collyer for alleged "cause."

  • SEC Says Zeek Probe ‘Is Continuing’; Agency Updates Information Page

    UPDATED 10:05 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The SEC today updated its information site on the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme case, noting its investigation “is continuing” and pointedly adding language that “ZeekRewards and [Paul R.] Burks immediately consented to an asset freeze, the appointment of a receiver over their assets, and the payment of a $4 million penalty.”

    Although the agency gave no specific reason for the update, it occurred against the backdrop of an ongoing effort by Zeek figure Robert Craddock to intervene in the case after collecting donations from individual members of Zeek.

    1.

    Screen shot of section from Google cache. This is how this section of the SEC's Zeek information page looked prior to today's update.

    2.

    Screen shot: The red highlights were added by the PP Blog and show today's change to the SEC's Zeek info site.

    Blogger Jordan Maglich of PonziTracker.com noted yesterday that Craddock reportedly had been subpoenaed to appear before the SEC.

    From PonziTracker (italics added):

    While the SEC did not provide the reason for the subpoena, some have speculated that recent comments attributed by Craddock to the SEC concerning purported admissions of fault in the SEC’s case against Zeek which were later refuted may have piqued the SEC’s interest.

    On Sept. 23, the PP Blog reported that Craddock’s name did not appear on a Sept. 17 list of “EMPLOYEES, OTHER PERSONNEL, ATTORNEYS, ACCOUNTANTS & OTHER AGENTS/CONTRACTORS” submitted by Zeek to Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen even though Craddock identified himself in July as a Zeek “consultant.”

    Craddock also was present on separate fundraising calls last month with Todd Disner, a Zeek pitchman and a member of the AdSurfDaily 1-percent-a-day Ponzi scheme, and with T. LeMont Silver. Silver was described on a Zeek website in June as a Zeek “employee.”

    Among other things, Silver was a pitchman for OneX, which federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia described in April as a “fraudulent scheme” and “pyramid” that was cycling money in ASD-like fashion. Jailed ASD Ponzi scheme operator Andy Bowdoin also was a OneX pitchman.

    ASD was a Ponzi scheme that gathered at least $119 million, according to federal prosecutors. Zeek’s business model was very similar to ASD’s business model.

    Zeek was a Ponzi scheme that gathered $600 million, according to the SEC.

    See Sept. 19 PP Blog story.

    Visit the SEC’s Zeek infomation page.

  • UPDATE: 1-Percent-A-Day Ponzi Schemer Andy Bowdoin Of AdSurfDaily In Custody Of U.S. Marshals And On Way To Federal Prison

    Andy Bowdoin's booking photo in the District of Columbia.

    Convicted AdSurfDaily Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and is listed “in transit” to a federal detention facility, according to court filings and the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

    Where Bowdoin, 77, will do his time has not yet been revealed. But a criminal judgment against Bowdoin signed Sept. 21 by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer included a recommendation that Bowdoin be incarcerated “at a Low or Minimum Security facility near Tallahassee,” Fla.

    Bowdoin’s ASD, which purported to pay members 1 percent a day, operated in Quincy, Fla., a short drive from Tallahassee.

    On Aug. 29, Collyer sentenced Bowdoin to 78 months. He pleaded guilty to a Ponzi-related charge of wire fraud in May and admitted ASD was a Ponzi scheme.

    Bowdoin had been held at a jail in the District of Columbia since June 12, the date his bond was revoked after federal prosecutors proffered evidence that he continued to commit crimes after the U.S. Secret Service raided ASD in 2008.

    The Secret Service said last month that it also was investigating Zeek Rewards, another 1-percent-a-day-plus “program.” The SEC has described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    ASD gathered at least $119 million, according to court filings.

    Zeek and ASD are known to have had members in common.

  • ZEEK: Part Of The Backstory — In Pictures

    UPDATED 4:20 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Unsolved mysteries remain in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme case. Among the unanswered questions are these:

    • How many members did Zeek have in common with AdSurfDaily, a predecessor 1-percent-a-day scam to the Zeek scheme?
    • Why do some Zeek “defenders” appear to be engaged in bizarre bids to harass and menace Zeek critics?
    • Why did Zeek list certain ASD members or story figures as employees on its website — and why does some of the employee information published on Zeek’s website in June appear to be at odds with employee information contained in court filings by Zeek last week?
    • How much connectivity did Zeek have with scams such as NarcThatCar, AdViewGlobal, OneX and JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid, a “program” that may have ties to the “sovereign citizens” movement?

    On June 7, the PP Blog reported that a Zeek Rewards MLM “program” website was listing the names of 16 Zeek “employees,” including the name of Terralynn Hoy, a mainstay in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme story. Also included was the name of OH Brown, an executive at a company (USHBB Inc.) that produced ads for the NarcThatCar pyramid scheme. This information is reflected in screen shots Nos. 1 and 2. Notes by the PP Blog also are included.

    Hoy participated in at least one conference call for Zeek, as did Brown. Zeek’s 1-percent-a-day-plus business model was very similar to the business model of ASD, which the U.S. Secret Service described in 2008 as a massive online Ponzi scheme that had gathered tens of millions of dollars. Zeek launched after the collapse of ASD and had members and/or figures in common with ASD and AdViewGlobal, a collapsed 1-percent-a-day “program” federal prosecutors linked in April 2012 to ASD.

    1.

     

    2.

    ADDITIONAL NOTES: T. LeMont Silver, identified by Zeek in June as an employee, also was a pitchman for “OneX.” In April, federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia described OneX as a “fraudulent scheme” and “pyramid” that was recycling money in AdSurfDaily-like fashion. ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme operated by the now-jailed Andy Bowdoin, who also was a OneX pitchman.

    Among Silver’s OneX claims was that OneX positions being given away were worth $5,000. Bowdoin declared OneX an excellent “program” for college students.

    Even though Zeek claimed Silver, Hoy, Catherine Parker, Brown, Trudy Gilmond and Marie Young Cain as “employees” in June, they are not referenced as “EMPLOYEES, OTHER PERSONNEL, ATTORNEYS, ACCOUNTANTS & OTHER AGENTS/CONTRACTORS” in a Sept. 17 court filing by Rex Venture Group LLC/Zeek operator Paul R. Burks.

    Also absent from Burks’ Sept. 17 list of Rex/Zeek employees/contractors is Robert Craddock, who identified himself in July as a Rex “consultant.” In July, prior to the SEC’s Ponzi allegations against Zeek, Craddock sought to disable the Hub of Zeek critic “K. Chang” by filing a complaint for purported copyright/trademark infringement and libel with HubPages.com. Craddock was successful briefly, but HubPages eventually restored the “K. Chang” Hub. Craddock later became involved in a purported effort to raise funds to “protect” Zeek affiliates from the SEC and/or the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Ponzi case.

    Gilmond once pitched Regenesis2x2, a “program” that became the subject of a U.S. Secret Service investigation in 2009. The Secret Service also is investigating Zeek. The SEC described Zeek last month as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    Precisely how and when Rex/Zeek hired or replaced/dismissed employees is unclear. The names of a number of individuals listed by Zeek as employees in June do not appear on the list Burks filed in court last week.

    NarcThatCar effectively collapsed in 2010, after coming under scrutiny by the Better Business Bureau and investigative reporters. Narc operated from Texas — and yet did part of its banking in North Carolina at one of the banks used by Zeek. Both Narc and Zeek used USHBB Inc. to produce ads for their respective “programs.” Both Narc and Zeek scored “F” grades with the BBB — and when the BBB published negative information about the respective “programs,” some affiliates of the respective “programs” claimed the BBB was a fraud.

    Zeek ‘Defender’ Stalks PP Blog, Starts Disinformation Site After HubPages Restores ‘K. Chang’ Site Targeted By Craddock

    The PP Blog is reporting today that, after the SEC described Zeek as a $600 million fraud and after HubPages restored the “K. Chang” Hub critical of Zeek and targeted by Craddock, a purported Zeek “defender” used the Internet repeatedly to send harassing communications to the PP Blog. Dated Aug. 28, one such communication was an announcement that the PP Blog and “K. Chang” had been targeted in a retaliation campaign for their respective reporting on Zeek.

    3.

    4.

    The Blog’s stalker created more than a dozen bogus usernames and email addresses to send harassing (and bizarre) communications to the PP Blog.

    Here is one from Aug. 31 (italics added):

    Watch out for the Romney lover namely KSChang!!!! He was saw holding hands with Mitt, caressing the presidential candidate, while surfing PatrickP’s amazing, smart, funny, and romantic blog.

    Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee for President of the United States.

    For reasons that remain known only to the PP Blog’s cyberstalker, the individual also sent a one-word harassing communication — “Pussy” — to the thread below this Aug. 29 PP Blog guest column by Gregg Evans. Separately, the cyberstalker sent a communication that planted the seed Evans would get sued for his Aug. 29 PP Blog column.

    “Are you willing go toe to toe with a lawyer on your claims and back up this article?” the cyberstalker wrote.

    On Aug. 31, the cyberstalker — who’d been banned under multiple identities — sent this harassing communication to the PP Blog:

    “What happened to your face dude, looks like you got ran over by an ugly truck.”

     

     

     

  • BULLETIN: Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Tim Turner Of Purported ‘Republic for the united States of America’ Charged In Alleged ‘Seminar’ Scam In Which He Taught Attendees How To File Bogus Liens Against Public Officials; Tax Crimes Also Charged, Justice Department Says

    “Turner is alleged to have attempted to pay his own taxes with a fictitious $300 million bond and to have assisted others in attempting to pay their taxes with fictitious bonds purporting to be worth amounts ranging from $10 million to $100 billion.” — U.S. Department of Justice, Sept. 18, 2012

    BULLETIN: James Timothy Turner, a purported “sovereign citizen” who claims to be “President” of the “Republic for the united States of America,” has been indicted by an Alabama grand jury on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, attempting to pay taxes with fictitious financial instruments, attempting to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Service, failing to file a 2009 federal income tax return and falsely testifying under oath in a bankruptcy proceeding, the Justice Department announced.

    Among the allegations against Turner is that he “conducted seminars at which he taught attendees how to file retaliatory liens against government officials and to defraud the IRS by preparing and submitting fictitious bonds to the United States government in payment of federal taxes,” the Justice Department said.

    “Turner is alleged to have attempted to pay his own taxes with a fictitious $300 million bond and to have assisted others in attempting to pay their taxes with fictitious bonds purporting to be worth amounts ranging from $10 million to $100 billion,” the Justice Department said.

    The IRS and the FBI led the probe, the Justice Department said.

    So-called “sovereign citizens” may have an irrational belief that laws do not apply to them.

    Purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming — a mainstay in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme story — was arrested by the FBI last year on charges he filed bogus liens against at least five public officials involved in the ASD case, including a federal judge, three federal prosecutors and a special agent of the U.S. Secret Service.

    He also is accused of uttering a bogus “bonded promissory note,” concealing fugitives wanted in a home-business caper and being a felon in possession of firearms.

    Leaming also has sought to sue President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on a theory they are imposters in office. In June, Leaming, 56, sought to sue a county sheriff in Arkansas, demanding purported damages be paid in gold and silver.

    In August, purported “sovereign citizen” Michael Chung, 52, was arrested in New York on charges that he threatened to kill two bank employees.