Zeek Receiver: Nearly $300 Million Recovered, Clawbacks Likely

The receiver appointed to recover assets in the $600 million ZeekRewards Ponzi scheme announced today that he had recovered nearly $300 million in assets for eventual distribution to the estimated one million victims.  The receiver, Ken Bell, also estimated that "tens of millions of dollars more" are still unaccounted for, and hinted at their eventual recovery as well.  While victims certainly should be optimistic about the developments to date, Mr. Bell urged patience going forward, stating that "this process will take months, if not longer."

Also of note in the letter was Mr. Bell's most pointed statements to date that he intends to pursue clawback litigation against those "affiliates who took more out of Rex Ventures than they put in."  While many victims received few, if any, distributions and instead chose to re-invest their gains, some affiliates were rumored to have withdrawn tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in excess of their initial contribution.  Citing principles of equity, Mr. Bell declares that "in order to make everyone as whole as possible, those who profited from participating should surrender their gains" (emphasis added). Courts routinely approve the use and legal theory surrounding clawbacks, and they are very difficult to defend.

It also appears that the beginning of a claims process is near.  Mr. Bell indicated that an "information template" will be posted to the Receivership website soon that, while it will not function as an official claims form, will allow the Receivership to begin collecting victim information and also enable an accurate method of communication as the case proceeds.

Finally, and likely in response to increased and rampant speculation over recent comments made by some affiliates in which they purported to have spoken to the Receiver or the SEC about the negative merits of the case, the Receiver issued a strong statement denying the rumors.  According to Mr. Bell, false information is being circulated by these claimants" (emphasis added). Going forward, Mr. Bell urged victims to consider only what the SEC posts on its website for its position on the matter.

Ponzitracker published an article several days ago consistent with Mr. Bell's comments after having been forwarded an email that purported to contain comments attributed to the SEC concerning the "weakness" in Zeek's case.  In a conversation with a top SEC official involved in the litigation, Ponzitracker was able to confirm that the statements being circulated were false.