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Tag: Robert Craddock

  • CURIOUS: 3 Of 5 ‘Most Popular’ Stories On PP Blog Last Week Were ‘Old’ Articles On The AdSurfDaily And AdView Global Scams

    UPDATED 8:55 A.M. ET (U.S.A., DEC. 11) Are Zeekers doing research in advance of clawback actions in the Ponzi scheme case or otherwise trying to get a sense of history? Are they (or other readers) trying to gain a better understanding of ties that may exist among Zeek, AdSurfDaily and AdViewGlobal?

    Three of the PP Blog’s five “Most Popular” stories last week were “old” articles about ASD and AVG, according to a tracking service used by the Blog. AVG had not dominated reader interest on the PP Blog for nearly three years.

    Here are links to (and briefs about) those stories:

    From July 16, 2009: (No. 2 in ‘Most Popular’ rankings last week.) BREAKING NEWS: Federal Judge Says Curtis Richmond, Six Other Parties Who Used Pro Se Litigation Blueprint, Cannot Intervene In AdSurfDaily Forfeiture Case

    The July 16, 2009, story reported that seven would-be, pro se intervenors in the ASD Ponzi case were denied standing by a federal judge. In her ruling, the judge pointed out that the first filing occurred in February 2009. It is “representative and seems to be a ‘form’ complaint inasmuch as the others are duplicates,” the judge said.

    A key part of the ruling (italics added): “Fraud victims who voluntarily transfer their property to their wrongdoers do not retain a legal interest in their property; instead, such victims acquire a debt against their wrongdoers.”

    Waves of other pro se filiers later were denied standing in the case. (On at least two occasions, the judge denied the would-be intervenors en masse.)

    It perhaps is worth pointing out that standing also could become an issue in the Zeek case. Given ASD’s history, it also seems possible that “defenders” of the Zeek scheme will ponder the use of shared litigation templates. (The ASD templates, which advanced conspiracy theories and accused public officials of crimes,  didn’t “work.” To date, one Zeeker has accused the court-appointed Zeek receiver of a crime.)

    From Dec. 7, 2009: (No. 4 in “Most Popular” rankings last week.) AdViewGlobal Recording Suggests Member Cashed Out $10,000 Only Days After Formal Launch And That Insiders Were Awarded Bonuses; Less Than Two Weeks Later, Surf Switched To ‘Private Association’ Structure

    The Dec. 7, 2009, story reported that AVG, a  purported offshore entity, had conducted conference calls earlier in the year and lured prospects with “bonuses.” It also reported that some AdSurfDaily figures were among the first to receive the “bonuses.”

    It perhaps is worth pointing out that an effort by some Zeek insiders now appears to be under way to lure their downlines into nascent “programs,” at least one of which is being positioned as a way to maintain a Zeek downline in a new “program” and receive a bonus. The name of the new “program” that purportedly will provide bonuses to Zeek members and its base of operations are unclear.

    Zeek and ASD figure Todd Disner, however, recently was reported to be in Hong Kong with a “lost” passport.

    “Todd Disner,” said Zeek figure Robert Craddock on a call last week. “Bless his heart. I don’t know if he’s found his passport yet, but he’s . . .  in Hong Kong right now assisting us with this new program. And he’s lost his passport. So, I don’t know if he’s made it back to the states yet or not. And, so, we’re all working very, very hard to pull this together for you.”

    Some Zeekers have ported themselves to schemes such as “BannersBroker” and “GoFunPlaces.” It is possible that any number of Zeek members took soiled proceeds from previous scams to their new “opportunities.” What’s not known at this time is what will happen if Zeek “winners” who are the prospective targets of clawback litigation will do if they moved illicit Zeek proceeds into another scheme or dissipated the money in other ways.

    From the Dec. 7, 2009, story (italics added):

    The conference call, hosted by Terralynn Hoy, a Moderator at both the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum and a ning.com forum set up to promote AVG, did not disclose how the member amassed a large sum in only days and qualified for a cashout. But another participant in the call announced that the man excitedly expected to receive a check for $10,000.

    Terralynn Hoy, a figure in both the ASD and AVG stories, hosted at least one call for Zeek in 2011. ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme that collapsed in August 2008. AVG collapsed in a sea of mystery in June 2009. Before it collapsed, it sought to make an 80/20 “program” mandatory and exercised its version of a “rebates aren’t guaranteed” clause.

    Lots of Zeek members tried to encourage fellow members and prospects to keep 80 percent in the “program” and remove only 20 percent. Like ASD and AVG, Zeek also had a version of a “rebates aren’t guaranteed” clause. Some Zeek “defenders” now claim that Zeek should be left alone because it never promised anybody anything. ASD and AVG members said the same thing about those “programs.”

    From July 24, 2009: (No. 5 in “Most Popular” rankings last week.) UNCONFIRMED: Harris Family In Uruguay, AVG Staff Fired

    This story reported that certain members of the Bowdoin-Harris family involved in both ASD and AdViewGlobal purportedly had moved to Uruguay. News about the purported move broke after AVG was mentioned in a racketeering lawsuit against ASD in June 2009.

    From the July 24, 2009, story (italics added):

    AVG has a history of blaming members for its problems and deflecting accountability from management to the rank-and-file. In the past, it has blamed members for the suspension of a bank account and threatened to sue members who shared information outside association walls — and even to contact their ISPs to suspend service of people who asked pointed questions about the company in forums.

    Yesterday’s announcement by AVG also blamed the delay in audit findings on unspecified “complications created by changes in payment processors.”

    Prior to its August 2012 collapse, Zeek appears to have experienced problems with banks and payment processors. Some Zeek promoters cautioned fellow members not to talk too much about Zeek in public. On Aug. 4, Zeek complained on its Blog about unspecified “North Carolina Credit Unions” saying unfair or untrue things about Zeek.

    Zeek members were warned there would be consequences to members who did not toe the company line.

    Just 13 days later, on Aug. 17, the SEC filed an emergency action in federal court that alleged Zeek was a $600 million Ponzi and pyramid scheme

     

  • SPECIAL REPORT: AdSurfDaily/Zeek Pitchman Todd Disner Gave Thousands To Gingrich, Romney After Soliciting Money To Sue The United States; Records Show Tax Liens Of More Than $405,000 Dating Back To 1999

    EDITOR’S NOTE: ASD was a multilevel-marketing scheme that planted the seed it paid a return of 1 percent a day on top of two-tiered affiliate commissions totaling 15 percent for recruiters. Federal prosecutors described the purported “opportunity” as a Ponzi scheme based in the the small town of Quincy, Fla., and operated by recidivist securities felon Andy Bowdoin.

    UPDATED 9:46 A.M. ET (NOV. 18, U.S.A.) A Florida man who claimed in a November 2011 lawsuit against the United States that AdSurfDaily was not a Ponzi scheme doled out thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and organizations in the following months, records show.

    The man, ASD promoter Todd Disner of Miami, joined with fellow Miami resident and suspended Connecticut attorney Dwight Owen Schweitzer in suing the United States as pro se plaintiffs after soliciting donations from fellow ASD members to fund the lawsuit earlier in 2011, according to records. As the lawsuit proceeded, Disner and fellow ASD promoter Schweitzer raised the prospect in court filings that the seizure of ASD’s database in a 2008 case brought by the U.S. Secret Service and federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia could lead to the ASD duo’s prosecution for tax evasion.

    A federal judge tossed the lawsuit in August 2012, but Disner and Schwetizer are appealing. They have accused the judge of “sophistry.”

    Both Disner and Schweitzer have been engaged in continuous litigation against the United States for more than a year. Neither has been charged with a crime. After their days promoting ASD, Disner and Schweitzer went on to promote Zeek Rewards, an ASD-like,  1.5-percent-a-day “program” with accompanying commissions that triggered probes by both the SEC and the U.S. Secret Service. On Aug. 17, the SEC accused North Carolina-based Zeek of operating a $600 million Ponzi-and pyramid scheme that potentially swindled more than 1 million investors.

    Zeek operator Paul R. Burks did not contest the SEC’s civil allegations and consented to a judgment in the case. Records show that Burks gave $2,500 to the campaign of GOP Presidential hopeful Ron Paul between 2011 and early 2012.

    On Dec. 26, 2011, only weeks after the Disner/Schweitzer lawsuit was filed against the government, Disner provided a donation of $1,000 to the GOP Presidential campaign of Newt Gingrich (Newt 2012), Federal Election Commission records show. The Gingrich donation by Disner appears to have been his first to a national candidate or organization. The FEC database, for example, shows no donations from Disner between Jan. 1, 1990, and Dec. 25, 2011.

    Disner matched the Dec. 26 donation with another $1,000 to Gingrich in January 2012, according to FEC records.

    Separately, records in Miami-Dade County show that the IRS filed a tax lien against Disner for $101,723 on Aug. 1, 2006. Included in that sum was $95,015.97 allegedly owed from 1999, and $6,707.77 allegedly owed from 2002.

    ASD, operated by the now-convicted and jailed Andy Bowdoin, launched just weeks after the IRS filed the lien against Disner. Two years to the day after the lien was recorded in Miami-Dade, the Secret Service seized $65.8 million from 10 Bowdoin bank accounts.  A raid of ASD’s headquarters followed four days later. Bowdoin later was charged criminally with operating a Ponzi scheme. Among the allegations against Bowdoin was that he had used money from the ASD Ponzi scheme to make a donation to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

    Bowdoin, 77, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in May 2012. In August, he was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison. Prosecutors said he was at the helm of a $119 million Ponzi scheme and promoted other MLM fraud schemes even after his December 2010 arrest.

    On Nov. 21, 2007, according to records, the IRS filed another lien against Disner in Miami-Dade totaling $294,940.89. This lien was for the 2003 and 2004 tax years. The IRS filed yet another lien against Disner on Oct. 22, 2008. This one sought $8,661.36 for the 2000 and 2001 tax years.

    All in all, records show three tax liens against Disner for the combined sum of $405,325.99.

    Whether Disner has cleared the IRS liens is unclear. What is clear is that, in June 2012, he raised the prospect in court filings that he could be prosecuted for tax evasion because of the seizure of ASD’s database in 2008. Records in the Zeek case, meanwhile, show that the Zeek database also has been seized.

    Records suggest that, with Gingrich out of the GOP Presidential race by May 2012, Disner switched his support to Mitt Romney, who went on to become the party’s nominee. Romney ultimately lost in the general election to President Obama, a Democrat seeking a second term.

    Gingrich, a former Georgia Congressman, is a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

    On June 25, 2012, Disner gave $1,000 to Romney for President Inc., according to FEC records.

    Just days earlier — on June 18, 2012 — Disner and Schweizer claimed in federal court that the government’s Ponzi case against ASD was a “house of cards,” despite Bowdoin’s guilty plea and acknowledgment that he had operated a Ponzi scheme and that ASD never had operated lawfully after its 2006 inception.

    A month later — on July 17, 2012 — Disner gave $200 to the Republican National Committee, according to FEC records.

    Exactly a month after that — on Aug. 17, 2012 — the SEC filed an emergency action in federal court that accused Burks of presiding over a massive fraud scheme that effectively extended across the world.

    Within days of the SEC action, Disner — who previously solicited money to sue the United States for alleged misdeeds in the ASD Ponzi case — participated in a conference call with self-described Zeek “consultant” Robert Craddock, who himself was soliciting money for some sort of court action against the SEC or the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek case.

    Nothing has been filed by Craddock to date. During one call, Craddock dropped the name of former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, claiming McCollum as a “friend.” McCollum is a Republican. In 2008, while attorney general, McCollum accused ASD of operating a pyramid scheme.

    Some ASD members reacted by suggesting that McCollum and a Florida TV station that carried the news of the ASD lawsuit should be charged with Deceptive Trade Practices.

    Despite Craddock’s claim after the SEC action that McCollum’s law firm SNR Denton had become the attorneys for a Craddock and a group of Zeek members, SNR Denton appears to have decided not to represent Craddock or his group.

    FEC records show that Disner gave $1,500 to the Republican National Committee in September 2012.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.”

     

     

     

  • 2 Attorneys Have Filed Court Notices For Robert Craddock’s Fun Club USA ‘And Other Entities Whose Assets Were Seized,’ According To Zeek Docket

    UPDATED 7:58 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The mystery of precisely who would represent Zeek Rewards figure Robert Craddock in a bid to intervene in the Zeek Ponzi scheme case may be over.

    Attorney Rodney E. Alexander of Charlotte has filed an appearance notice for Fun Club USA Inc., Craddock’s Florida business that raised funds for a court action challenging the Zeek case through ZTeamBiz.com.

    Meanwhile, attorney Michael J. Quilling of Dallas has applied to the North Carolina federal court handing the Zeek Ponzi scheme case for permission to represent Fun Club.

    Quilling’s application was sponsored by Alexander. Quilling is with Quilling, Selander, Lownds, Winslett & Moser, P.C.

    In court filings today, Alexander said he “is appearing in this matter as local counsel for Fun Club USA, Inc and other entities whose assets were seized in connection with” the Zeek case.

    Fun Club’s name does not appear as a defendant in the SEC’s civil case against Zeek, and it was not immediately clear whether a specific sum was seized from the company or whether Craddock and the unidentified “other entities” plan to argue that Zeek-related seizures in general by the government were unlawful.

    The filing did not identify the other entities.

    An email attributed to Craddock yesterday suggested that Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen had permitted politics to enter the Zeek Ponzi fray. The email described the law firm of the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek case as “politically connected” and therefore potentially lacking “any incentive to protect anyone” and positioned to “run up a bill and submit invoices to the courts so they can pay themselves.”

    Craddock did not explain why Mullen — a former Naval officer with 22 years on the bench — ever would play politics with Zeek. Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell, whom Craddock has painted as fee-hungry before Bell has submitted a single bill for the judge to review, is experienced as both a defense attorney and a prosecutor.

    As a prosecutor, Bell was heralded by the U.S. Department of Justice for gaining convictions in a case against a Hezbollah terrorist cell operating in the United States. (See Bell in this YouTube video speaking about the cell.)

    Craddock, though, appears to be dubious of Bell and his firm.

    “So now we have an overzealous government agency, making unsubstantiated claims and convincing a judge to freeze the bank accounts and, dismantle the penny auction and for what, so the receiver can employ 100 people making in excess of 500 an hour for 210 weeks or 4.3 years and burn through the $500 million they have grabbed in 16 bank accounts,” the email attributed to Craddock read in part.

    Scammers on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums such as MoneyMakerGroup also have planted seeds of doubt against the receiver. Zeek was promoted widely on forums listed in court filings as places from which Ponzi schemes are promoted.

    Bell has said there potentially could be 2 million victims in the Zeek case. Yesterday alone attorneys for accused Zeek operator Paul R. Burks of Rex Venture Group filed thousands of Zeek-related records under seal. It is part of Bell’s job to examine those documents.

    Craddock’s suggestion of political tomfoolery was curious, given that Craddock used the name of former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and the SNR Denton law firm in Craddock’s initial fundraising efforts to hire counsel. SNR Denton dropped out soon thereafter. McCollum is a partner at SNR Denton.

    AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme pitchman Todd Disner was present on a Craddock fundraising call last month. Among other things, Disner asserted in court filings earlier this year that ASD was not a Ponzi scheme even after ASD President Andy Bowdoin pleaded guilty to wire fraud and admitted ASD was a Ponzi scheme.

    In a November 2011 lawsuit against the government for alleged misdeeds in the ASD Ponzi case, Disner also accused prosecutors of going shopping for a friendly judge when bringing the ASD Ponzi case in 2008. His claims were dismissed on Aug. 29, the same day Bowdoin was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison.

    At an unclear point in time, Disner became a Zeek pitchman. Like ASD, Zeek featured a 1-percent-a-day (or more) payout plan on top of commissions for sales.

    On Aug. 17, the SEC described Zeek as a Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that sold unregistered securities and raised $600 million.

    Craddock has described himself as a consultant for Rex Venture Group LLC, Zeek’s parent company.

  • UPDATE: Teetering ‘Wealth4AllTeam’ Scheme Reportedly Was Using I-Payout, Same Facilitator Cited By ‘OneX’ Scheme In July

    Screen shot: I-Payout website showing logos of "Global Strategic Partners." Ponzi-forum reports surfaced yesterday that the Wealth4AllTeam HYIP scheme was using I-Payout. In July, a scheme known as "OneX' that federal prosecutors previously described as a fraud and a "pyramid" announced that it was transitioning to I-Payout.

    UPDATE: Wealth4AllTeam, one of the many HYIP schemes pushed by Zeek Rewards “I Got Paid” cheerleader “Ken Russo,” reportedly was using I-Payout as a payment facilitator, according to new Ponzi-forum reports.

    Wealth4AllTeam appears to have suspended operations, leaving the Ponzi forums in an uproar amid claims that it is transitioning to a new business model that incorporates something called “Project Genesis.”

    Earlier this year, Wealth4AllTeam planted the seed that it would sue the RealScam.com antifraud forum  for publishing information unfriendly to Wealth4AllTeam.

    “I-payout quick links has been removed….all the attached bank account has been deactivated..there is no option left to deposit or withdraw…Looks like W4all have a hold on I-payout,” MoneyMakerGroup poster “jhakas22” claimed yesterday.

    If the report is true — and MoneyMakerGroup poster Tobwithu claimed that he (or she) “can confirm that all links at i-payout are gone!’ — then it means that Wealth4AllTeam was using the same facilitator to which the mysterious “OneX’ scheme claimed it was transitioning.

    In April, federal prosecutors described the purported OneX “program” as a “fraudulent scheme” and “pyramid” pushed by former AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin. ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme. In August, Bowdoin was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison.

    On July 19, the PP Blog reported that OneX claimed it had dropped SolidTrustPay — a Canada-based processor linked to fraud scheme after fraud scheme — in favor of I-Payout. That announcement was made by “J.C.,” later identified by federal prosecutors as James C. Hill.

    I-Payout’s website publishes the logos of HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Barclays and other “Global Strategic Partners,” including Bank of America.

    “J.C.” made the OneX I-Payout announcement on July 17, the same day the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was grilling HSBC executives on HSBC’s anti-money-laundering practices, including an executive who announced his resignation in front of the panel.

    (Also see June 20 PP Blog report about OneX claim that it was working with a processor with a tie to Bank of America. Given events that occurred after the dropping of Bank of America’s name and the appearance of the bank’s name on the I-Payout site, it appears “J.C.” was alluding to I-Payout in June.)

    Any number of ASD Ponzi-scheme pushers used Bank of America’s name to sanitize the ASD fraud. In raising Bank of America’s name in June and announcing the I-Payout transition in July, OneX appears to have been doing the same thing.

    Name-dropping to sanitize fraud schemes is common in the HYIP sphere. So are lawsuit threats and other bids to chill websites that publish information critical of HYIPs.

    In July, Robert Craddock, a purported “consultant” for Rex Venture Group LLC — the operator of the Zeek Rewards MLM scheme — sought to have a HubPages site operated by Zeek critic “K. Chang” removed from the web by filing a complaint with HubPages about purported copyright and trademark infringement and libel. Craddock’s efforts succeeded temporarily.

    In a bizarre Blog post on Aug. 4, Zeek claimed that “all” criticism of Zeek was unfair and planted the seed that unspecified “North Carolina Credit Unions” were circulating a purported “internal memo” that allegedly was “at once unfavorable to Zeek Rewards and false.”

    The Zeek post, attributed to then-acting COO Gregory J. Caldwell, complained the credit unions were slandering Zeek and warned Zeek members to toe the company line.

    Thirteen days later, the SEC filed an emergency court action that described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    Craddock now is involved in a purported effort to defend Zeek affiliates from clawback actions by the court-appointed receiver in the SEC’s Zeek case. That effort began after the SEC’s actions against Zeek and also included name-dropping. During a pitch for Zeek members to send in money, Craddock dropped the name of former Florida Attorney General (and former U.S. Rep.) Bill McCollum.

    McCollum, now a partner at the SNR Denton law firm, no longer is in public office. Precisely why Craddock mentioned McCollum’s name is unclear, although Craddock initially said that the Zeek affiliates were hiring SNR Denton. That effort appears now to have fallen through.

    As Florida’s Attorney General, McCollum sued ASD for fraud in August 2008. Some ASD members countered that McCollum should be sued for Deceptive Trade Practices for holding the view that ASD was a fraud. Although McCollum’s office later dropped the ASD lawsuit, it said it had gathered names of ASD fraud victims and provided them to the U.S. Department of Justice, which had established a remissions process through which ASD victims could receive compensation from proceeds seized by the U.S. Secret Service in the ASD Ponzi case filed at the federal level in the District of Columbia.

    Zeek is known to have members in common with the ASD Ponzi scheme. Some Zeek members also promoted OneX, the scheme promoted by ASD’s Bowdoin after his December 2010 arrest by the U.S. Secret Service on Ponzi-related charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities.

    Bowdoin told prospects that OneX was good for “college students.”

    “Ken Russo” also is known as “DRdave.”

  • BULLETIN: ZTeamBiz, Site Purportedly Raising Funds To Defend Zeek Affiliates, No Longer Has Access To PayPal; Site Weaves Conspiracy Theory That eBay Didn’t Want Zeek To Survive

    BULLETIN: (UPDATED 3 P.M. EDT U.S.A.) This bizarre announcement appears today on ZTeamBiz, the site that was using PayPal purportedly to raise funds to “defend” affiliates of the collapsed Zeek Rewards’ MLM scheme:

    The payment solution has been removed and will be replaced on September 8, 2012. PayPal a company owned by eBay.com had decided it is not in their best interest to assist us in bringing back a Penny Auction that is directly competing with eBay.com.

    We apologize for this inconvenient [sic] and will have a new solution soon. Thank you for your understanding

    ZTeamBiz, which targeted Zeek affiliates in its fundraising pitch, has a tie to Todd Disner, a figure in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme that advertised a Zeek-like payout of 1 percent a day. Affiliates who provided money to ZTeamBiz potentially put themselves at cross-purposes, given that a federal judge has appointed a receiver in the Zeek case and that the interests of all Zeek affiliates are not equivalent.

    In 2011, ASD President Andy Bowdoin sought to use PayPal to raise funds to pay for his criminal defense. The site, known as Andy’s Fundraising Army, eventually was blocked by PayPal from using its services.

    Robert Craddock is part of the purported braintrust behind the ZTeamBiz fundraising effort. Disner once was a guest on a Zeek-related conference call featuring Craddock. That call occurred after the SEC moved against Zeek last month.

    In July, Craddock reportedly was behind an effort to silence the voice of Zeek critic “K. Chang” by bringing a purported copyright and trademark infringement complaint against K. Chang through HubPages, a site used by K. Chang to publish news and opinion about Zeek. The site was taken offline, but eventually returned.

    In 2011, Disner sued the United States for alleged misdeeds in bringing the ASD Ponzi case, claiming ASD was a legitimate enterprise and that the U.S. government had presented a “tissue of lies” when bringing the case in August 2008. About seven months after Disner brought the action, Bowdoin pleaded guilty to wire fraud, admitting ASD was a Ponzi scheme.

    A federal judge sentenced Bowdoin to 78 months in federal prison — and dismissed the lawsuit filed by Disner. Disner’s co-plaintiff in the case was Dwight Owen Schweitzer. At an unclear point in time after the August 2008 seizure of tens of millions of dollars in ASD-related bank accounts in the ASD Ponzi case by the U.S. Secret Service, both Disner and Schweitzer became Zeek promoters.

    Zeek’s business model was similar to ASD’s. On Aug. 17, the SEC described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that potentially affected more than 1 million people. The Secret Service also is investigating Zeek.

    ASD’s Bowdoin was sentenced Aug. 29. Federal prosecutors described his “program” as a $119 million Ponzi scheme that had created at least 9,000 victims and had resulted in millions of dollars of losses.

    ZTeamBiz did not explain on its website whether PayPal blocked the account through which it was soliciting funds from Zeek affiliates. Instead, it suggested that eBay, which owns PayPal, was an envious Zeek competitor.

    See “Whose Lawyer Is This Anyway,” an Aug. 29 PP Blog guest column by Gregg Evans. See July 9, 2009, guest column by Evans that raised questions about how the SolidTrustPay payment processor was enabling fraud schemes.

    See July 28 PP Blog column on the Craddock HubPages flap.

  • Zeek Fallout Almost Too Strange To Contemplate

    For starters, Zeek affiliates being approached by upline sponsors and email/website appeals to send in money “to defend Zeek Rewards and all of our independent businesses as per our legal rights of due process” might want to read this July 25 PP Blog post.

    It’s about how wordplay was used to sanitize HYIP scams.

    For additional background, Zeek affiliates might want to read this July 28 PP Blog post.

    It’s about how purported Zeek “consultant” Robert Craddock sought to disable the Hub of Zeek critic “K. Chang.” Craddock now is part of the effort to raise funds to “defend” Zeek affiliates.

    Zeek and untold thousands of its minions are known to have a tin ear for PR. That tin ear is on full display again today, with a “warning” from the leaders of the effort to “defend” Zeek from the SEC’s Aug. 17 allegations that it was a $600 million Ponzi and pyramid scheme not to contact the SNR Denton law firm.

    “We have asked the firm to provide us the names of the individuals that are calling; we will refund your donation and will remove you from the group to be represented if you call. The law firm is only going to discuss the case with the 12 leaders and we will put out the information to the entire group on this site.”

    “This site,” as it were, is this site, which calls itself ZTeamBiz.

    ZTeamBiz, which calls itself a “professional organization,” says its has hired SNR Denton. The precise reason why is unclear, although ZTeamBiz says the “SEC has tried to make us all believe that Zeek Rewards was an ‘investment’ and a Ponzi scheme. All the pages that were submitted by the SEC indictment has all been one sided and what we believe to be a misrepresentation of the truth and facts of what Zeek Rewards was as a viable and legal business.”

    And ZTeamBiz also accused the SEC of misleading a federal judge.

    One of the persons on the ZTeamBiz squad — although it’s unclear if his presence is formal or informal — is Todd Disner. Disner is a former pitchman for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and, along with former attorney Dwight Owen Schweitzer, sued the government in November 2011. Disner and Schweitzer alleged that prosecutors and a U.S. Secret Service agent presented a “tissue of lies” to a federal judge when bringing the civil portion of the ASD Ponzi case in August 2008.

    Disner and Schweitzer made that claim after ASD had lost the case in U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals. Among other things, Disner and Schweitzer claimed the government had gone shopping for a friendly judge when it brought the forfeiture proceedings.

    That judge allegedly was targeted with a false lien by Kenneth Wayne Leaming, who also targeted three federal prosecutors and a Secret Service agent with false liens, according to the FBI. Leaming was arrested by an FBI Terrorism Task Force in November 2011. He is a purported “sovereign citizen.” All five of the federal officials targeted in the alleged lien campaign have ties to the ASD case.

    ASD President Andy Bowdoin pleaded guilty seven months later to a Ponzi-related charge of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.

    Zeek is known to have members in common with ASD, which federal prosecutors have described as a $119 million Ponzi scheme that created at least 9,000 victims before its 2008 collapse amid allegations by the U.S. Secret Service of Ponzi fraud.

    Like Zeek, ASD claimed it was not offering an investment program. And like Zeek, ASD planted the seed it offered a daily payout rate of 1 percent a day or more.

    Like Zeek, ASD came under investigation by the U.S. Secret Service. The agency has referred to ASD as a “criminal enterprise,” with the U.S. Department of Justice calling ASD “insidious.”

    Those descriptions apparently were not enough to dissuade investors from throwing money at Zeek, which has listed ASD members as “employees.”

    On Aug, 4, Zeek itself blasted unspecified “North Carolina Credit Unions” for raising concerns about Zeek. Zeek warned members to toe the company line.

    The SEC was in federal court 13 days later.

    Zeek also is known to have members in common with JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid, which appears now to have morphed into something called “ProfitClicking.” Both JSS/JBP and ProfitClicking may have ties to the sovereign-citizens movement.

    A domain registered in the name of purported JSS/JBP operator Frederick Mann once linked to videos featuring Francis Schaeffer Cox, a purported sovereign citizen implicated in a murder plot against public officials in Alaska.

    Because HYIP scams typically are promoted on Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup — and because Zeek, JSS/JBP, ProfitClicking and ASD all had a presence on those forums — questions have been raised about whether cash was circulating between and among various fraud schemes and placing U.S. banks in the position of possessing fraudulent proceeds.

    A receiver has been appointed to marshal the assets of the alleged Zeek fraud.

    Despite the appeal by ZTeamBiz for Zeek affiliates to send in money to “defend” themselves and the company, the interests of all Zeek affiliates almost certainly are not equivalent.  Net “winners” almost certainly are at risk of clawback lawsuits from the receiver. Such court actions are used to enlarge the pool through which victims of a Ponzi fraud receive a disbursement designed to make them as whole as possible.

    It’s often the case that victims never are made whole and receive disbursements of dimes or even pennies on the dollar. Such is the case to date for victims of the 2009 Trevor Cook Ponzi caper in Minnesota. That scheme was a form of affinity fraud targeted largely at people of faith, including senior citizens.

    Post-Ponzi receiverships sometimes turn into an international paper chase because scammers hide money offshore.  Reverse-engineering a Ponzi caper can take years. Even as Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell begins his duties, scammers on the Ponzi boards are planting the seed that the receivership cannot be trusted.

    In the 2009 Mantria/Speed of Wealth Ponzi scheme case, which in part was pushed MLM-style, a federal judge issued a specific order not to interfere with the receiver.