‘NewGNI,’ Apparent Knockoff HYIP Scam Promoted By Zeek And ‘Profitable Sunrise’ Cheerleader ‘Ken Russo,’ Appears To Have Collapsed
The website of “NewGNI” has not resolved to a server for days. The “program” is believed to have been a knockoff of a predecessor scam known as “GNI” or GoldNuggetInvest, which collapsed in early 2010 after being promoted by members of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. The collapse of the original GNI was about as bizarre […]
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: North Carolina Orders ‘Profitable Sunrise’ To Cease And Desist; State Calls It An ‘Immediate And Significant Danger’
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: The state of North Carolina — home base to the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme — has ordered a purported offshore “opportunity” known as “Profitable Sunrise” to cease and desist from doing business in the state. Profitable Sunrise purports to be a hard-money lender and investment opportunity. It […]
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: AdSurfDaily Figures (And Zeek Pitchmen) Todd Disner And Dwight Owen Schweitzer Lose In Appeals Court
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has upheld the rulings of a federal judge and rejected an appeal by AdSurfDaily figures Todd Disner and Dwight Owen Schweitzer. The ASD duo had contended the seizure of records from ASD’s database in a Ponzi scheme case brought in 2008 by the U.S. […]
EDITORIAL: What Zeekers (And Other MLMers) Can Learn From The Upcoming Trial Of AdSurfDaily Figure And Purported ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Kenneth Wayne Leaming
UPDATED 12:28 P.M. (FEB. 27, U.S.A.) Kenneth Wayne Leaming, a figure in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi-scheme story and a purported “sovereign citizen,” is scheduled to go on trial today in federal court the Western District of Washington with co-defendant David Carroll Stephenson. Leaming is charged with filing false liens against public officials involved in the ASD […]
UPDATE: Nicholas Cox, Figure In North Carolina Fraud Scheme Operating Near Ground Zero For Zeek Rewards, Sentenced To Federal Prison
With the alleged $600 million Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme dominating local headlines in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region, including the city of Lexington in Davidson County, an earlier, smaller fraud scheme operating in the region largely fell out of the news. But the Integra Capital Management LLC Ponzi and fraud scheme operated by Nicholas Cox […]
INCREDIBLE: JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid Operator Frederick Mann Now Billed As Pitchman For Upstart Scheme Known As ‘ClickPaid’
UPDATED 8:51 A.M. ET (FEB. 20, U.S.A.) Frederick Mann, a former pitchman for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme and the operator of the bizarre JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid “program” that advertised a return of 2 percent a day and morphed into a “program” known as “ProfitClicking” in the days after the SEC called rival HYIP Zeek Rewards a $600 […]
Legisi HYIP Pitchman Matthew John Gagnon Pleads Guilty, Admits He Didn’t Disclose ‘Touting’ Compensation Of More Than $1 Million And Caused More Than $7 Million In Losses
Legisi HYIP Ponzi-scheme pitchman Matthew John Gagnon has pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Michigan to a criminal charge of not disclosing he’d been paid more than $1 million by Legisi and its operator Gregory N. McKnight to tout the “program” online. In a plea agreement now public after being fashioned in October and […]
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Federal Judge Denies Motion To Appoint ‘Examiner’ In Zeek Ponzi Case; Court Rejects Contention By Alleged Zeek ‘Winners’
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen has denied a motion by Zeek Rewards affiliates aligned with Robert Craddock to appoint an “examiner.” Craddock’s Fun Club USA and Zeek members and alleged “winners” David Sorrells, David Kettner and Mary Kettner asked for their attorney — Michael Quilling of Dallas — […]
Judge Orders More Than $22.8 Million In Penalties, Restitution For Trader’s International Return Network (TIRN); ‘Program’ Was Pitched On Ponzi Boards
David Merrick, the operator of Trader’s International Return Network (TIRN) fraud scheme, already is serving a TIRN-related, 97-month prison sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and securities fraud, plus one count of money laundering. And now a federal judge has imposed addition sanctions, ordering Merrick and TIRN — a presence on Ponzi […]
FOR ZEEKERS: Receiver Shows Judge Preliminary Mock-Up Of Online Claims Form; Kenneth D. Bell Says He’ll Seek Court Approval For Claims Process By End Of First Quarter
Kenneth D. Bell, the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi-scheme case, has proposed a process by which claims would be filed online. Filers would proceed through a series of screens to enter information and would be permitted to upload information to substantiate their claims. The proposed filing process — still in preliminary form — […]
BULLETIN: Receiver Says $12 Million In Zeek Money Located ‘In An Eastern European Country’ — But Has Not Been Returned
BULLETIN: (2ND UPDATE 8:47 P.M. ET U.S.A.) The court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi-scheme case says he has located $12 million in receivership assets held in an unspecified “eastern European country” — but the funds have not been returned. “This account is owned and was used by a payment processor outside the United States […]