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Tag: NMBJ

  • SEC Charges Zeek Figure Keith Laggos With Publishing Fake News To Sanitize Ponzi/Pyramid Scheme

    In December 2013, these plaques of Network Marketing Business Journal Zeek puff pieces were put up for auction by the court-appointed receiver for Zeek. On March 22, 2017, the SEC charged former NMBJ publisher Keith Laggos with securities fraud.

    Keith Laggos, an AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme figure and the onetime publisher of Network Marketing Business Journal, has been charged by the SEC with securities fraud for illegally touting the Zeek Rewards scheme and using NMBJ to sanitize the egregious fraud that gathered hundreds of millions of dollars.

    Among the agency’s allegations is that “Laggos’s favorable editorials of the scheme contained material misstatements and omissions. Laggos published theses misstatements despite being made aware of their inaccuracy and otherwise being in a position as a paid consultant for ZeekRewards to know of their falsity.”

    The former .com site for NMBJ now is showing a “For Sale” sign.

    Plaques commemorating NMBJ’s Zeek puff pieces on Zeek were listed as auction items by the court-appointed receiver for Zeek in December 2013.

    From an SEC statement on March 23, 2017 (italics added):

    The SEC alleges that, from at least June 2011 through July 2012, Laggos, through NMBJ and while acting a paid consultant for ZeekRewards, was paid at least $64,000 for publishing several editorials providing crucial publicity to the ZeekRewards scheme. These publications promoted ZeekRewards as the “company of the month” and touted, among other things, the scheme’s supposed record earnings and opportunity to generate income for participants. Laggos failed to disclose the fact that he was paid for the favorable editorial coverage, the amount that he was paid, and that he was a paid consultant for ZeekRewards.

    Laggos, a prior defendant in an SEC touting case, agreed to pay $79,190.68 to settle the Zeek matter, the SEC said. In addition, he agreed to a permanent injunction from future violations of Sections 17(a) and 17(b) of the Securities Act, from participating in future securities offerings and from providing paid publicity to securities.

    The SEC moved against Zeek on Aug. 17, 2012. (See Aug. 12, 2012, PP Blog editorial that references Laggos: “Karl Wallenda Wouldn’t Do Zeek.”)

    See BehindMLM’s March 25, 2017, story on the charges against Laggos.

    See the SEC’s litigation statement.

    Whether other outlets that publish fake news to sanitize fraudulent MLM schemes would learn from the case against Laggos was not immediately clear.




  • TOMORROW (DEC. 17) AT THE ZEEK AUCTION: Branded Ponzi History Up For Bid: Coffee Mugs, Water Bottles, Key Chains, Refrigerator Magnets — And Plaques Of Network Marketing Business Journal Puff Pieces

    zeeknmbjIt won’t be quite like buying Bonnie and Clyde’s fateful getaway car, but it still will represent a purchase of American crime or fraud history. In Lexington, N.C., tomorrow — on the second and final day of the court-approved Zeek Rewards auction — pieces of MLM Ponzi-scheme history will be put up for bid.

    And in Zeek’s case, it’s branded history: cases of water bottles with Zeekler.com branding, cases of coffee mugs with ZeekRewards branding, cases of key chains with Zeekler branding, cases of refrigerator magnets with Zeekler branding.

    The taglines on the Zeek coffee mugs read, “save money — make money.”

    Auctioneers also have put something called the “Zeek-Israel Jerusalem Trophy” up for bid.

    Also on the auction list are plaques of Zeek puff pieces that appeared in the July-August 2011 edition of Network Marketing Business Journal. Here’s the headline: “Record savings, record earnings with Zeekler’s entertainment shopping experience.”

    NMBJ is published by Keith Laggos, a touting defendant in a 2004 SEC case who later became a figure in both the Zeek Ponzi-scheme story and the AdSurfDaily Ponzi story.

    About a year after the July-August 2011 NMBJ article appeared, the SEC alleged that Zeek was a $600 million Ponzi and pyramid fraud. ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme exposed by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008.

    Plenty of gift cards, furniture, computer equipment and other items linked to Zeek also are up for bid tomorrow.

    In terms of the number of victims — somewhere on the order of 800,000 — Zeek is believed to be the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.  Kenneth D. Bell is the court-appointed receiver.

    See PP Blog story from earlier today on Day 1 of the Zeek auction.

    The Day 2 auction begins at 9 a.m. ET tomorrow, Dec. 17, 2013.