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Tag: Zeek Rewards

  • BULLETIN: Zeek Receiver May Push For Contempt Against Payza

    breakingnews725BULLETIN: New court filings in the Zeek Rewards’ Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case brought by the SEC in 2012 say Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell may ask a federal judge for a finding of contempt against Payza, a payment processor.

    The news comes as federal prosecutors continue a criminal investigation involving Payza and Obopay, another payment processor. Prosecutors are expected to make an announcement on the Payza/Obopay matter soon.

    Payza is  Ponzi-forum darling.

    Some of the Zeek money ended up in Moldova, according to previous filings by Bell. Precisely how that happened remains unclear, but Bell says he is working with authorities in both Moldova and the United States “to locate and recover the funds.”

    From a filing by Bell dated today (italics added):

    The Receiver Team continues its efforts to investigate and pursue outstanding funds from the processing relationship and flow of funds between Payza, Payment World, and Victoria Bank . The Team is working with government officials in both the United States and Moldova and with members of McGuireWoods Consulting to locate and recover the funds. The Receiver Team has also begun efforts to file a motion against these entities seeking the return of receivership assets and for a finding of contempt. The Receiver Team continues to investigate and pursue outstanding funds from Solid Trust Pay and Cyberprofit and is working with various government agencies in pursuit of these assets.




  • TelexFree Trustee’s Proposed Class Actions May Affect Nearly 100,000 Alleged ‘Winners’ Globally

    newtelexfreelogoIt’s another MLM legal and PR catastrophe.

    Let’s begin with the numbers, which are staggering: In two separate actions on Jan. 15, TelexFree bankruptcy Trustee Stephen B. Darr sued 56 named alleged “winners” in the MLM Ponzi- and pyramid scheme believed to have generated about $3 billion in corrupt, cross-border economic activity.

    These 56 promoters — 23 with U.S. addresses and 33 with overseas addresses — effectively are the stand-ins for about 93,000 others who received more from TelexFree or “from other persons in connection with the purchase of membership plans or VoIP Packages” than they paid in. The adversary action in federal bankruptcy court in Massachusetts is filed as a proposed defendant class-action, meaning rulings for or against the named winners would apply to the unnamed 93,000 others.

    “The members of the Net Winner Class are so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable,” Darr argued to Chief Bankruptcy Judge Melvin S. Hoffman.

    At least 11 U.S.-based promoters of TelexFree hauled more than $1 million each from the program, according to Darr’s complaint. At the top of the list was Benjamin Argueta of Somerville, Mass. He is alleged to have received more than $4 million, including more than $2.2 million in the last 90 days of the scheme.

    With alleged winnings of more than $2.5 million, including more than $1 million in the closing days, Zollo Alecci of Canico, Portugal, was the alleged top international winner. Canico is situated in the Madeira Islands, a spot apparently favored by Brazil-based TelexFree executive Carlos Costa.

    Costa, associated with a TelexFree branch known as Ympactus, also is a failed politician and alleged international racketeer.

    Much like Zeek Rewards’ receiver Kenneth D. Bell, who also filed a defendant class action, Darr is arguing that the alleged winners must return the money because it represents an ill-gotten gain.

    Hoffman already has ruled TelexFree a Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    Accused TelexFree huckster Sann Rodrigues, who once claimed a $3 million haul, was not named an alleged winner in either of Darr’s proposed class actions — even though the sum Rodrigues claimed easily would have put him among the top winners.

    The reason why Rodrigues wasn’t named was not immediately clear, although he possibly used shell companies to offload some of his haul.

    TelexFree involved as many as 1.9 million participants, according to Darr.

    NOTE: Thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.




  • Zeek Figure Darryle Douglas ‘Subject Of Ongoing Investigation’ By U.S. Marshals Service

    Auction Attics logo
    Auction Attics logo

    Darryle Douglas, the alleged Zeek Rewards’ insider whose arrest was ordered last month, is still wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service.

    “He is the subject of an ongoing investigation,” a spokesman for the Marshals Service in the Western District of North Carolina told the PP Blog moments ago. “We’re trying to locate him.”

    The spokesman declined to say more.

    Douglas resides in Orange County, Calif., according to court filings. The Marshals Service has nationwide jurisdiction. Whether Douglas remains in California or is elsewhere is unclear.

    Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen of the Western District of North Carolina ordered his arrest on Dec. 10.

    Mullen specifically found that Douglas had violated a court order in a civil case and that the Zeek receivership had suffered harm as a result of the conduct of Douglas. Kenneth D. Bell is the receiver.

    Douglas may have gravitated to an emerging scheme known as Auction Attics, with the aim of targeting Zeekers all over again. He has not complied with an order to surrender the Zeek database and other information.

    Zeek was alleged by the SEC to have been a Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that gathered more than $850 million. Auction Attics has a similar theme.




  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: TelexFree Figure Sann Rodrigues Found In Contempt Of Court

    Sann Rodrigues. From INTERPOL.
    Sann Rodrigues. From INTERPOL.

    (4th Update 7:23 p.m. ET U.S.A.) TelexFree, IFreeX and DFRF Enterprises’ figure Sann Rodrigues has been found in contempt of court in the SEC’s Ponzi- and pyramid case against TelexFree and a federal judge in Massachusetts has threatened to jail him.

    The SEC alleged Rodrigues, a recidivist securities offender,  violated an asset freeze imposed in 2014. U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton today agreed.

    Gorton rejected defense arguments that Rodrigues, a Brazilian now accused of visa fraud in the United States, wasn’t skilled at English and didn’t understand the freeze order.

    “His arguments are unconvincing,” Gorton ruled. “Rodrigues was subject to a very similar temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in a 2006 civil enforcement action also brought by the SEC. Thus, however complex were the requirements of the orders in this case, they were not unfamiliar.”

    The judge also rejected a contention by Rodrigues that he could not provide an accounting as ordered because providing the requested financial information would violate his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Gorton ruled that Rodrigues already had waived his right in dealings with the SEC

    From the Dec. 18 order by Gorton (italics added):

    Rodrigues argues that providing a full accounting of his assets and transactions would require him to disclose information that could incriminate him in several potential or actual criminal proceedings. Rodrigues is currently the subject of a criminal prosecution in a separate federal visa fraud case, U.S. V. Rodrigues (15-10227). He reports that he is also being investigated by the Massachusetts Attorney General with respect to another of his business ventures. In addition, he contends that he may still be under investigation for potential criminal charges related to the specific conduct that underlies this civil enforcement action.

    Whether defendant has made a sufficient showing to invoke the Fifth Amendment is, however, irrelevant. Rodrigues waived his right against self-incrimination by consenting to the Order. . . . In that proceeding, Rodrigues explicitly agreed to provide the very information he is now claiming to be privileged . . . Defendant was represented by counsel, who negotiated the language of the order with the SEC. In exchange for agreeing to provide the required accountings, Rodrigues received a carve-out of his frozen assets to pay for his bail in the separate criminal visa fraud case.

    By Jan. 15, Rodrigues must restore more than $334,000 removed in violation of the asset freeze, Gorton ruled. He also is required to “obtain the reconveyance” of real estate transferred in violation of the freeze or “remit funds equal to the market value thereof or provide the Court with a detailed plan as to how he will otherwise cure his contempt in relation to the transfer of those properties.”

    Rodrigues violated the freeze by  “removing cash from accounts or selling cars,” the judge found.

    The penalty for not meeting the conditions of the order is bail revocation, Gorton ruled.

    Rodrigues has become at least the second figure associated with a Ponzi-board “program” to be found in contempt this month.

    Darryle Douglas, an alleged Zeek Rewards’ insider, was ordered arrested on Dec. 10. That order was issued by Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen of the Western District of North Carolina. Whether Douglas has been taken into custody is unclear.

    NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.




  • BULLETIN: ‘TeamVinh,’ A Ponzi-Board ‘Program,’ Charged By SEC

    teamvinhlogoBULLETIN: (8th Update 3:34 p.m. ET U.SA.) The SEC has gone to federal court in Minnesota, alleging that an enterprise known as “TeamVinh” that pushed something called “VPAKs” was operating a securities-fraud scheme targeted at MLMers.

    TeamVinh, which allegedly recruited more than 5,600 participants,  has a presence on the Ponzi boards, including MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold. Recent chatter suggests the scheme may have been making selective payouts, a classic maneuver in HYIP Ponzi land. The scheme eventually morphed into a “purported commodities trading platform,” the SEC said.

    Morphing into a new scheme is another classic form of Ponzi fraud.

    “Defendants claimed that TeamVinh members are able to obtain the placement of individuals in their downline salesforce through purchasing what TeamVinh refers to as ‘VPAKs,'” the SEC charged. “Each VPAK is supposed to represent another individual who signed up for TeamVinh, and TeamVinh promises to ‘fulfill’ the VPAK by placing the person represented by the VPAK in the member’s downline at the third-party MLM company and in the member’s TeamVinh account. Defendants claim that, through the VPAKs, TeamVinh would ‘continuously SPILL in NEW Active Paying Members into [the existing member’s] Downline.’ Members could also earn funds by referring additional individuals to TeamVinh. ”

    Claims of tremendous spillover are common in MLM schemes.

    Charged were TeamVinh.com LLC and alleged operator Vu H. Le, also known as Vinh H. Le.

    Le, 39, lives in Minnesota and was convicted of forgery in Wisconsin in 1995. He spent two years in prison, the SEC said.

    By 2007, the SEC charged, “the States of Wisconsin and Minnesota barred Le from offering or selling securities in those states based on Le’s involvement in a real estate scam.”

    Le raised more than $3 million through TeamVinh, spending $2 million of it at “a single casino” in Las Vegas, the SEC charged. He allegedly also spent investor money at other casinos.

    Promises of “passive income” were part of the TeamVinh scheme, the SEC alleged. Earlier Ponzi-board scams such as Zeek Rewards and TelexFree made similar claims. So did “The Achieve Community.”

    Ponzi-board posts suggest TeamVinh was using a curious (and lengthy) acronym to sanitize the scheme: ACCESS WEW. This apparently stands for “A Crazily Cost Effective Self-Sustainable Wealth the Easier Way” system.

    A higher-priced scheme within the overall scheme was known as VET, which stood for “Vinh’s Elite Team,” the SEC said.

    The VET membership costs ranged “from $3,995 to $24,995.”

    TeamVinh buy-ins for as low as $40 also allegedly were offered, potentially making the business both a microscheme and a macroscheme.

    With TeamVinh already in trouble in 2014, “Le solicited additional investments from TeamVinh members in what he referred to as the ‘Platform.’ As new member and investor proceeds began to dwindle, Le told existing members and investors that he needed $200,000 to finalize TeamVinh’s launch of VodeOx,” the SEC charged. “Le claimed that an investor had committed the $200,000, but the investor’s bank would not clear the funds.”

    VodeOx purportedly was “TeamVinh’s own MLM company,” after TeamVinh earlier had operated as an apparent affiliate of other MLM firms.

    Read the SEC statement on TeamVinh. Read the complaint.




  • DEVELOPING STORY: Proposed Settlement Agreement With Zeek Receiver May Wipe Out MLM Attorneys And Law Firm

    From a court filing dated Dec. 11, 2015. Red highlight by PP Blog.
    From a court filing dated Dec. 11, 2015. Red highlight by PP Blog.

    DEVELOPING STORY: (5th Update 8:18 p.m. ET U.S.A.) MLM attorneys Gerald Nehra and Richard Waak will sign a confession of judgment for a whopping $100 million and acknowledge that Zeek parent Rex Venture Group “in fact operated an unlawful Ponzi and pyramid scheme” under the terms of a settlement agreement with Zeek Rewards’ receiver Kenneth D. Bell, according to new court filings.

    The news comes as Nehra and Waak also are being pursued by class-action attorneys for alleged misdeeds involving the TelexFree MLM scheme broken up by the Massachusetts Securities Division, the SEC and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2014.

    A judge must approve the settlement proposal with Bell in which the MLM lawyers contend “that they acted in good faith as legal counsel,” but now “acknowledge and agree that, based on their current knowledge, during the period they served as counsel RVG in fact operated an unlawful Ponzi an pyramid scheme involving an unregistered investment contract that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to innocent victims of the scheme,” according to filings from Bell.

    In 2008, Nehra argued that AdSurfDaily — a $119 million Ponzi scheme — was not a Ponzi scheme. His own client, Andy Bowdoin, later disagreed. Nehra then became involved in both Zeek, a scheme that allegedly gathered more than $850 million, and TelexFree, which allegedly created more than $3 billion in bogus economic activity.

    All three “programs” used similar business models. The cascading fraud totals have been a source of considerable concern.

    The settlement proposal with Bell hints the MLM attorneys, who acknowledge no liability to the receiver, already may be wiped out in that it calls for a payment of $100,000, a small sum compared with the confession of judgment for $100 million.

    In fact, according to the agreement, the MLM lawyers have submitted a sworn financial statement and the $100,000 figure represents “to the extent that it can be accomplished, the full payment of all the Nehra and Waak’s funds and assets available to satisfy the agreed judgment.”

    “The Receiver believes the financial settlement, Confession of Judgment in the amount of $100 million and the acknowledgement of the existence of the Ponzi and pyramid scheme reached as part of the negotiation process is the best outcome for the Receivership and that even with the expenditure of additional funds to obtain a judgment there is not a likelihood of a materially increased recovery for the eventual distribution to the Zeek victims.” Bell wrote.

    Bell sued Nehra and Waak in September, alleging that they “encouraged investors to participate in the scheme by knowingly allowing their names to be used in providing a false façade of legality and legitimacy and gave improper legal advice that allowed the scheme to continue far longer than it would have without the Defendants’ support. Nehra and Waak’s improper and negligent actions, which breached their fiduciary duties to RVG and assisted RVG’s Insiders to breach their fiduciary duties, caused significant damage to RVG.”

    The PP Blog reported last month that a settlement was possible.

    Bell advised Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen today that the proposed settlement sum of $100,000 was “based on the defendants’ financial condition.”

    NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.




  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Judge Orders U.S. Marshals To Arrest Zeek Figure Darryle Douglas

    breakingnews725URGENT >> 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 arrest warrant and jail Douglas, a Californian. It was not immediately clear whether he has been taken into custody.

    As the PP Blog reported on July 13, Douglas may be associated with an emerging scheme known as Auction Attics. Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell initially declined to comment on the nascent “program,” which almost certainly was aimed at former Zeekers and others.

    But Bell did reference Auction Attics in an Aug. 24 court filing, according to BehindMLM.com.

    After Mullen ordered Douglas to appear at a Dec. 3 hearing in North Carolina, Douglas failed to show, according to the order.

    At the same time, Douglas has not complied with a Sept. 15 order that directed him to turn over the Zeek Rewards’ database, to produce certain financial records and to submit to a deposition by Bell, according to the order.

    And, according to the order, Douglas has been obstructing the receiver. From the order (italics added):

    Mr. Douglas failed to appear for the show-cause hearing. The Court took evidence at the hearing from the Receiver and from counsel for Mr. Douglas and is satisfied that Mr. Douglas received notice of the hearing well in advance of the hearing date. The Court finds that Mr. Douglas received notice of the September 15 Order and has violated that Order. In addition, the Court finds that the Receivership has suffered and will continue to suffer harm because of Mr. Douglas’ violation of the Order. Mr. Douglas was previously found liable for more than $2 million to the Receivership in the form of fraudulent transfers and prejudgment interest, and under the Agreed Order in this matter, these are Receivership Assets belonging to the Receivership Estate.

    Mr. Douglas’s failure to return the database and these Receivership Assets not only harm the Receivership, but they also violate the Agreed Order in obstructing the Receiver’s efforts.

    NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.




  • Watch The Trailer For ‘Madoff’ And Think About How You Could Have Avoided Schemes Such As Zeek And TelexFree

    Bernard Madoff, played by Richard Dreyfuss, tells investors "Look, it's a closed fund" in the ABC miniseries. Ponzi schemes often trade on suggestions of exclusivity.
    Bernard Madoff, played by Richard Dreyfuss, tells investors “Look, it’s a closed fund” in the ABC miniseries. Ponzi schemes often trade on suggestions of exclusivity.

    ABC has made available the first trailer for “Madoff,” a network miniseries debuting Feb. 3, 2016. Richard Dreyfuss plays the notorious Ponzi schemer, with Blythe Danner starring as Ruth Madoff.

    Bernard Madoff’s name first appeared on the PP Blog nearly seven years ago, on Dec. 13, 2008. It has appeared numerous times since then.

    Says Dreyfuss, as Madoff, in the trailer: “You want to know how to get people to trust you with their money? I’ll tell you right now: You present it as an exclusive thing.”

    Any number of the “programs” we have covered tried to sell Madoff-like exclusivity. One of them was Zeek Rewards, an alleged MLM fraud involving more than $850 million taken down by the SEC in 2012.

    Zeek Rewards, according to the SEC, called itself a “private, invitation-only, affiliate advertising division” for Zeekler, a penny-auction “opportunity.”

    Of course, the interest rate Zeek promised made Madoff look like an amateur.

    As the PP Blog reported on June 10, 2012, a couple of months prior to the SEC’s Zeek action (italics added):

    When Zeek’s story is compared to the tale of Madoff’s relatively modest (compared to Zeek) but unusually consistent returns of around 10 percent a year, Zeek is outperforming the notorious Ponzi swindler by a factor on the order of 30 to one. Zeek, though, insists it is not offering an investment. It also preemptively denies it is a “pyramid scheme” and plants the seed it will terminate any affiliate who suggests Zeek is offering an investment program.

    Lessons flowing from Madoff continue to go unheeded — things such as suggestions of exclusivity and unusually consistent returns.

    But with HYIPs, the danger signs may be even clearer: preposterous interest rates that dwarf Madoff’s “returns,” a presence of a scheme on the Ponzi boards such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup, menacing behavior by a company or its affiliates, cult-like qualities (such as allegedly existed at TelexFree), bizarre antigovernment rhetoric suggesting the presence of “sovereign citizens” or political extremists.

    One of the classic refrains is that “it can’t be a scam because the company is registered.”

    TelexFree, which allegedly generated $3 billion in economic activity, was “registered.”

    So was Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.

    As was the case at Zeek, the TelexFree interest rate dwarfed that of Madoff. From the SEC’s 2014 TelexFree complaint filed years after Madoff made “Ponzi” household word in 2008 (italics added):

    One version of the marketing presentation on the company website contained slides indicating that an AdCentral promoter could clear $2,296 per year on a $289 investment, that an Ad Central Family promoter could clear $11,599 per year on a $1,375 investment, and that a Team Builder promoter could receive as much as $39,600 per year.

    The “Madoff” trailer is below. It includes lots of lessons for the mind and soul in just one minute — and it’s not just about making people think they are becoming members of an exclusive club. The con man serving 150 years in federal prison also made appeals to naked greed.

    Your Ponzi-board sponsor may be doing the same thing to you right now.




  • BULLETIN: 2 Arrested In Alleged ‘Banners Broker’ Pyramid Scheme

    breakingnews725BULLETIN: (14th Update 3:39 p.m. ET U.S.A.) Toronto police have arrested “Banners Broker” figures Christopher George Smith of Toronto and Rajiv Dixit of Vancouver.

    Both suspects are 45 and are scheduled to make a court appearance today, police said. The scheme allegedly raised $93 million (U.S.).

    They have been charged with Defrauding the Public of Over $5000, Possession of the Proceeds of Crime, Laundering the Proceeds of Crime, Operating a Pyramid-Selling Scheme and Making False or Misleading Representations under the Competition Act, police said.

    “[T]here are 1000’s of victims worldwide in Banners Brokers pyramid scheme,” police said on Twitter. The remark was attributed to Det. Sgt. Ian Nichol of the Toronto Police Mass Marketing Section.

    And, the department Tweeted, the agency and mass-marketing fraud investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police “worked for 2yrs full time on Banners Brokers pyramid scheme investigation.”

    Also assisting in the cross-border probe were the Competition Bureau of Canada, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, the Ministry of Finance, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, FINTRAC and the Canada Revenue Agency, police said.

    FINTRAC stands for the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.

    “[T]he program’s existence was entirely dependent upon the fee-based entry of new members and little or no real product or service was provided,” police said.

    Banners Broker, a purported “advertising” program similar to the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S Secret Service in 2008 and a current “program” known as MyAdvertisingPays or MAPS, previously has been described as a criminal enterprise.

    As the PP Blog reported last year, Banners Broker, like similar schemes, appeared to be trying to intimidate members.

    Read the statement by the Toronto Police Service on Banners Broker and the arrests of Smith and Dixit.

    In 2013, the PP Blog received bizarre spam from apparent Banners Broker supporters unhappy about the Blog’s coverage of the “program.”

    The PP Blog’s first reference to Banners Broker was published on June 17, 2012, when the Blog reported that a site that claimed it sold “customers” to Zeek Rewards members also was pushing traffic to Banners Broker and JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid, the bizarre, 730-percent-a-year “program” purportedly operated by Frederick Mann.

    Mann also was a pitchman for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. JSS/JBP, which later morphed into a “program” known as ProfitClicking, may have ties to the sovereign-citizens movement. Zeek allegedly was a Ponzi/pyramid scheme that gathered more than $850 million.

    Some HYIP promoters move from scheme to scheme to scheme, creating a condition in which losses mount globally and banks become warehouses for fraud proceeds. The SEC yesterday announced charges against alleged Zeek promoter Trudy Gilmond, whom the agency alleged recruited members for multiple failed schemes.

    See the PP Blog’s tag archive of references to Banners Broker or use the search function near the upper-right corner.

    Also see: “Law Firm’s Name Used In Bid To Dupe Members Of Banners Broker, Profit Clicking, MLM Attorney Says.”

    Within the story, the PP Blog showed a menacing communication it had received in January 2013. The story also shows the interconnectivity of certain online MLM schemes, as does this 2013 story: “TelexFree Affiliate Pitches Appear To Have Been ‘Scraped’ To Drive Traffic To Purported Gold And Silver Venture In Panama; Spam Link Leads To Site That Showcases ‘First Zeek Red Carpet Event’ And ‘Banners Broker’ In Folder Labeled ‘aaronsharazeek’  




  • STATS: High Interest Globally In Criminal Probe Involving Payza And Obopay

    On Oct. 19, the PP Blog received traffic from 76 countries. This graphic reflects the Top 10 on that date and suggests high global interest in a criminal probe involving Payza and Obopay.
    On Oct. 19, the PP Blog received traffic from 76 countries. This graphic reflects the Top 10 on that date and suggests high global interest in a criminal probe involving Payza and Obopay.

    On the past four Mondays — Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 9 and Nov. 16 — the PP Blog averaged viewership from 32 countries, according to a compilation of data from Jetpack summarized by the Blog. These numbers are typical. On any given day, viewers from between 25 and 40 countries arrive here.

    But on Oct. 19 — also a Monday and the day the Blog reported that a criminal investigation involving the Payza and Obopay payment processors was under way — the Blog’s viewership shot up to 76 countries. That’s nearly 40 percent of the nations in the world. Viewers from other countries followed Payza- and Obopay-related content in subsequent days, suggesting that people in an even higher percentage of the world’s nations are concerned about the probe.

    As the Blog reported on Oct. 21, the targets of the investigation are unclear and much info has been redacted from public filings.

    The Blog is reporting today that Payza’s name again has appeared in a filing by the court-appointed receiver in the 2012 Zeek Rewards’ Ponzi- and pyramid scheme case. The filing was dated yesterday and includes these lines (italics added):

    The Receiver Team continues to investigate and pursue outstanding funds from Payza, Payment World, Solid Trust Pay, and Cyberprofit and is working with various government agencies and McGuireWoods Consulting in pursuit of these assets.

    Millions of dollars tied to U.S.-based Zeek may be in Moldova, according to receiver Kenneth D. Bell. Moldova is a neighbor to Ukraine, a world hot spot described by the Financial Times as “war torn.”

    Payza, its predecessor AlertPay and SolidTrustPay are Ponzi-forum darlings operating in an era of almost unimaginable cross-border fraud that frequently has an MLM or direct-sales component. The numbers are truly staggering — so high that agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have become involved in investigations.

    Money moves across borders in a flash these days, including the borders of nations under terrorist threat. Perhaps especially in the HYIP sphere, the aims of the “program” operators and the identities of the recipients of the cash may be particularly murky.

    Information filed by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in the 2010 “Pathway To Prosperity” case alleges the P2P scheme spread to at least 120 countries, “all of the permanently inhabited continents of the world” and cost investors losses in 48 of the 50 U.S. states.

    Though uncharged, AlertPay and SolidTrustPay both are referenced in the P2P case, as well as the AdSurfDaily case from 2008. Ponzi forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup also are referenced in U.S. filings.

    The office of U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia says it expects to release more information on the Obopay/Payza matter “shortly after” Jan. 22, 2016.

    NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

     

     

     

  • BOOKMARK FOR ZEEKERS: Lawyer For Alleged Ponzi Winners Now Has Website And Has Posted Documents

    Whether you’re an alleged Zeek “winner” or a “loser” hoping the court will force the return of tens of millions of dollars in gains, this is one to bookmark: http://www.zeeknetwinnerclass.com/index

    It’s the website of J. Kevin Edmundson, the lawyer appointed by the court in essence to defend thousands of alleged Zeek Rewards winners sued by court-appointed receiver Kenneth D. Bell. In a Nov. 5 announcement on the receivership page, Bell himself pointed his litigation opponents to the site.

    “As instructed by the Court, Mr. Edmundson will be communicating with the Net Winner Class primarily through a website and collective emails,” Bell wrote.

    Bell alleges the winnings are Ponzi proceeds and thus must be returned. Any number of Zeekers hope to keep the alleged gains.

    The case is known as Bell v. Disner. Disner is Todd Disner, an alleged pitchman for both Zeek and the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme in 2008. The winner’s site includes an FAQ’s section, copies of court filings and more.

    “Class counsel has established this website as the primary means of communicating with members of the class,” Edmundson notes on the site. “Please check back frequently for updates as new information becomes available.”

    U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen certified the defendant class earlier this year.

    As the PP Blog reported in March (italics added):

    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 [March 17] by the posting of a “Notice of Certification of Defendant Class Action” by Zeek Rewards receiver Kenneth D. Bell. The four-page document is posted on the receivership website.

    Bell is suing more than 9,000 individuals in the United States alleged to have received more than $1,000 from the “program.”