U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins

Two domains linked to the alleged “Achieve Community” pyramid- and Ponzi scheme appear to have been disconnected. On Feb. 17, the PP Blog reported that the domains — ReadyToAchieve.com and TheAchieveCommunity.com — were displaying “Account Suspended” messages. ReadyToAchieve appears still to have DNS servers, but now displays nothing and will not return a ping. TheAchieveCommunity, […]

Paul Burks pleaded not guilty this morning and has been released on $25,000 unsecured bond, The Dispatch newspaper of Lexington, N.C., is reporting. Burks, 67, was the alleged operator of Zeek Rewards, which federal authorities have described as an $850 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme. He was indicted last month on charges of wire and […]

UPDATED 8:30 P.M. EDT U.S.A. The SEC this afternoon declined to comment on a confounding claim attributed to Zeek Rewards figure Robert Craddock that Zeek took in $1 billion in 12 months and that the U.S. government should have modeled a “stimulus program” after Zeek instead of shutting it down in 2012. News that Craddock […]

In case you missed the big news yesterday, TelexFree figures James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler were charged criminally. Unofficially this brings the number of charged MLM HYIP “programs” (or clients) with links to MLM attorney Gerald Nehra to three in recent years. Nehra was an “expert witness” for AdSurfDaily in 2008. He testified that ASD, […]

In an update to victims of the $850 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme, federal prosecutors said Dawn Wright-Olivares and Daniel Olivares will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office while out on bond. Wright-Olivares, 45, was Zeek’s former COO. She pleaded guilty last week to investment-fraud conspiracy and tax-fraud conspiracy. Daniel Olivares, the […]

BULLETIN: (3rd Update 1:46 p.m. ET U.S.A.) Dawn Wright-Olivares and Daniel Olivares pleaded guilty this morning for their roles in the $850 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, the office of U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina said. Wright-Olivares, 45, was Zeek’s former COO. Her stepson, Olivares, 31, […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: A “razorback” is a wild (feral) hog present in certain U.S. states, including Arkansas. The University of Arkansas calls its sports teams the “Razorbacks.” Zeek Rewards Ponzi-scheme figure Dawn Wright-Olivares, an Arkansas resident, recently opened a Clarksville restaurant called “The Healthy Hog.” Though the words “healthy” and “hog” may appear to be in […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (21st update 5:49 p.m.) Zeek Rewards figures Dawn Wright-Olivares and Daniel Olivares of Clarksville, Ark., have been charged criminally by federal prosecutors in the Western District of North Carolina and sued civilly by the SEC. Among the criminal allegations are tax-fraud conspiracy and investment-fraud conspiracy, according to a charging document. […]

In a development that could give pause to promoters of the purportedly “private” Profitable Sunrise scheme now on the radar of regulators in North America and Europe, a Florida man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in pitching a purported “opportunity” known as Queen Shoals. The announcement of the […]

UPDATED 7:08 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Jonathan D. Davey, a Newark, Ohio, certified public accountant and purported hedge-fund manager, has been convicted of all four counts against him in the “Black Diamond” and “Divine Circulation Services” Ponzi and fraud schemes in the Western District of North Carolina. A federal jury, according to prosecutors, took only 45 […]

BULLETIN: With seven defendants already convicted of Ponzi-related crimes and a North Carolina bank accused of turning a blind eye to the fraud, four new criminal defendants have been named in the Black Diamond Capital Solutions probe. A federal grand jury in Charlotte has returned an indictment against Jonathan D. Davey, 47, of Newark, Ohio; […]