U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (3rd Update 6:25 p.m. ET U.S..) Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen of the Western District of North Carolina has ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest alleged Zeek Rewards’ insider Darryle Douglas for civil contempt of court. The order was issued yesterday and included a directive for marshals to execute an […]

A North Carolina lawyer for a Michigan MLM law firm and MLM attorneys Gerald Nehra and Richard Waak advised a federal judge yesterday that a settlement was possible among her clients and the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards’ Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case. Receiver Kenneth D. Bell sued the lawyers and the firm in September, alleging […]

UPDATED 10:44 A.M. EDT U.S.A. In an amended complaint filed in August 2014, Zeek Rewards’ receiver Kenneth D. Bell sued MLM attorney Kevin Grimes, the Grimes & Reese law firm and a Grimes-related entity known as MLM Compliance VT LLC. Among other things, Bell alleged that Grimes and MLM Compliance received $843,000 from the Zeek […]

UPDATED 11:45 P.M. EDT U.S.A. David Ian MacGregor Fraser, a New Zealand resident who used the handle “sovlife” and is challenging a U.S. court’s jurisdiction over him in Zeek Rewards’ clawback actions, enrolled 96 paying members — 80 of whom were “victims,” according to court-appointed receiver Kenneth D. Bell. Those 80 victims lost a total […]

UPDATED 9:35 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Saying that Zeek Rewards’ clawback defendant Trudy Gilmond of Vermont “refused” to appear in North Carolina federal court on May 27 as directed, Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen has entered a judgment against Gilmond for $2,129,522.27. Mullen’s ruling is a significant win for Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell. […]

UPDATED 9:37 P.M. EDT U.S.A. David Ian MacGregor Fraser, a New Zealand resident who allegedly used the Zeek Rewards’ username of “sovlife,” has challenged a U.S. Court’s jurisdiction over him in a clawback lawsuit filed in February by Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell. Bell alleged that David Ian MacGregor Fraser received $89,722 from Zeek’s “unlawful […]

More lawsuits against international “winners” in the Zeek Rewards cross-border Ponzi-and pyramid-scheme case are coming, receiver Kenneth D. Bell has advised a federal judge. Bell also signaled to Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen that lawsuits may be coming against alleged international Zeek vendors such as Payza and SolidTrustPay, both of which earlier were […]

BULLETIN: (6th Update 8:34 p.m. EDT U.S.A.) Zeek Rewards’ receiver Kenneth D. Bell has gone to federal court in the Western District of North Carolina, seeking default judgments against key clawback defendants and alleged “winners” Trudy Gilmond and Jerry Napier, a figure in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi-scheme story. Bell is seeking more than $2.129 million from […]

What once was only theoretical in the context of MLM HYIP schemes — that a receiver appointed by a court could simultaneously sue thousands of “winners” from disparate locations for return of funds received from an alleged Ponzi or pyramid scheme — is now a reality. This reality was cemented today by the posting of […]

BULLETIN: The court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid case says millions of dollars in Zeek assets were transferred from the United States to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific by a former Zeek vendor known as Preferred Merchants Solutions LLC. At least part of the money allegedly then was used to […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated at 6:35 a.m. on Feb. 27. **______________________** It happened in the Zeek Rewards pyramid- and Ponzi case in 2012 — and now it has happened in the “Achieve Community” case filed earlier this month. A woman has contacted the court presiding over the Achieve case to solicit help in […]