Zeek rewards news update

Leave this field empty. With respect to a final distribution payment to Zeek Rewards victims, the motion states; The Receiver seeks approval of this Court to make a fifth and final distribution to holders of allowed Claims. The Zeek Rewards Receivership was established in August He is scheduled for release in February This means the Zeek Rewards case is now officially closed. Oct 8th, at am Oz Q.

Oct 8th, at pm Okosh Q. Oct 8th, at pm Oz Q. Oct 9th, at am Okosh Q. Oct 11th, at pm gopherking Q. Oct 17th, at am Laura Michener Q. Oct 17th, at pm Oz Q. The deadline for the named defendants to respond to the motion has been set for August 18, Click here for information on that case. On May 1, I told you that I would file a motion with the Court asking permission to make an interim, partial distribution on allowed claims.

We anticipate that this motion will be addressed by the Court in June. You can read the motion here. I am entirely confident that we will make another distribution once we have recovered all assets possible. As you know, we have sued the former insiders Paul Burks, Dawn Wright-Olivares and others and more than 9, individuals in the United States who took more money out of Zeek Rewards than they put in.

Despite our best efforts to make a distribution in mid-summer, logistical issues regarding the payment to what may be more than , affiliates required us to ask permission of the Court to make the first interim, partial distributions on allowed claims on September 30, We also asked that August 15, be the date for determining whether a claim is allowed and payable on September 30, In order for your claim to be allowed, you must have received your claim determination, agreed to that claim determination or resolved any objection you made to such claim determination and agreed to a claim determination , and provided the required release and OFAC certification requested on the claim portal.

It has been several weeks since I have given you an update because I wanted to be able to give you accurate numbers and dates you can rely on. I can now do that. As you know, we have been reviewing approximately , timely filed claims.

By Friday May 9 we will have issued about , letters of determination regarding those claims. Another 10, or so letters of determination will be sent before the end of May. There are a few thousand claims that will require additional time to review, because of conflicting information regarding the amounts claimed.

We will send letters to this last group of claimants as quickly as we are able. If you have not yet received your letter of determination, please be patient; it is coming. If you have already received a letter, or when you do, I encourage you to respond as soon as you are able. You also are anxious to know when we will begin making distributions on claims.

This month we will file a motion with the Court asking permission to make an interim, partial distribution on claims. My best guess is that we will begin making distributions in mid-summer. I will also be reserving cash to distribute to holders of claims that have not yet been determined and allowed. When your claim is allowed, you will receive distributions in the same total amount you would have received if your claim was allowed in the first batch of claim determinations.

This first distribution will not be of all the funds I'm confident we will ultimately be able to return to claimant victims. We continue to collect receivership assets from financial institutions and those who took more money out of Zeek Rewards than they put in.

We have sued more than 9, of these "net winners" in the United States. We will soon sue net winners who live outside the United States. I remain hopeful that we will add tens of millions of dollars to the pool from which we will make final distributions to claimant victims.

Unfortunately, these efforts will take quite a long time, maybe years. I will not be permitted to make final payments until all recoverable assets have been collected, but there will be an additional, final distribution at some point. Also, next week we will send out thousands of amended IRS Forms for and We have determined that Rex Venture Group often miscalculated the amount of money that should have been on the forms. There also were some errors for because of inadequate and erroneous records of the company.

If you receive an amended I encourage you to consult with a tax professional. I know this process has taken longer than you, or I, would have liked. I can only assure you that the receivership team has worked diligently to return as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, to victim claimants.

Our efforts on your behalf continue. Thank you for your continued support and patience. The Complaints are public records, and copies of both Complaints have been posted to the website.

Complaint against Insiders Complaint against U. Net Winners. Both actions describe in detail the ZeekRewards Ponzi and pyramid scheme and how it was operated from January to August The first action, Kenneth D.

It asks the Court to order the defendants to repay the losses caused by their unlawful conduct and return the money RVG paid them. The second action, Kenneth D. As explained in the Complaint, the law permits the Receiver to bring claims against a class of defendants where the underlying facts and legal issues are similar against the members of the class — like in this case where they all won money in ZeekRewards.

The Receiver has asked that the Court appoint the largest net winners sued by name as class representatives because they will, by virtue of their own defense to the same claims, be adequate and appropriate representatives for the rest of the net winner class. If you are on the list, you are not required to do anything at this time, although you may, of course, discuss this matter with legal counsel if you choose to do so.

However, I do ask all those on the list to complete a short contact information form so that those persons can be promptly notified of important information as the case moves forward. As discussed above, the goal of the lawsuit against net winners is simply to obtain the return of the money paid out to net winners in excess of the amount of money they paid to RVG.

The Court has approved over settlement agreements, with many allowing the repayment of the settlement amount over time on a negotiated payment schedule. Net winners who want to discuss settlement should indicate their interest by email to zeeksettlement mcguirewoods. We have recently added a link on Zeekrewardsreceivership. The Status Check Link will allow you to log in to a webpage using the userid and password you selected when you registered on the Claim Portal.

After logging into the Status Check Link, you will be brought to a webpage that will inform you whether your claim determination has been issued and will also permit you to confirm or update your contact information, as necessary. Please make sure that any contact information that you submitted is up to date so that when a claim determination for your claim is completed, you will receive notice that your claim determination has been completed.

If your claim has been determined, upon logging in, you will be prompted to review your claim determination. If, after logging in, the Status Check Link shows that your claim has not yet been determined, please be patient. We are working hard to determine all fully submitted claims of Affiliates as quickly as possible. Please do not call or email me to request the status of your claim as this will slow the claim determination process for all parties. Moreover, all entities making such requests will, to the extent they receive a response from the Receivership Team, be directed to the Status Check Link to obtain such status.

If you cannot log in after following the Status Check Link because you cannot remember your userid or password, you will be able to recover these items from the website. If you receive the following message, it indicates we do not believe you finally submitted a timely claim:. We have located the account associated with the Registration ID and password which you have tried to use to log in to check the status of a claim.

However, our records indicate that no claim was finally submitted for this Registration ID. An email will be sent to the email address which you provide and that email will contain a list of Registration IDs associated with that email address. If you believe this is an error, please contact us through the address listed in that message and we will evaluate your assertion. If you filed a claim by an alternative method approved by me in writing, you will receive your claim determination through a paper submission.

Finally, we wanted to update you on the claims reconciliation process. We are nearing the completion of the determination of more than 40, additional Affiliate claims.

These claim determinations will be finalized in the next few weeks and will be sent out in large groups. We will continue to send email notices of determination to all individuals holding such claims. Please check to see if your claim has been determined using the Status Check Link listed above.

On December 27, we began sending out more than 80, emails notifying claimants that their Letter of Determination is available for review. The Letter of Determination tells claimants the amount s of their claim s recognized by the Receiver. While I tried to make this process as understandable as possible, judging by the number of emails and phone calls, there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about how this process works.

I write this message to answer the most frequently asked questions. While we have sent more than 80, Letters of Determination, we have received more than , claims, so roughly 90, claimants have not yet been sent a Letter of Determination. Every affiliate claimant will receive a Letter of Determination as soon as we are able to review and evaluate the claim.

We are working hard to get this done as quickly as possible for every affiliate claimant. If you have not yet received a letter of determination, you will. Please be patient, and do not send emails or leave voicemails asking when you will get your Letter. Many claimants who have not yet received a Letter of Determination are trying to login using a link forwarded to them by a claimant who has received a Letter of Determination.

This will not work. The link will only allow a claimant who received an email notifying them that their Letter of Determination is available for review to login to the system. This is because the claimant has forgotten one or both, or created more than one User ID or password, and is trying to login with the wrong one.

If a claimant is having trouble logging in, please use the User Name Recovery tool that is linked to the login page on the portal. Many who have received a Letter of Determination are confused about the amounts recognized. Both numbers are important in determining how much money will be paid to each claimant once the Court approves a Distribution Plan.

Some claimants look at the line showing "Payments from Receivership Defendant" and mistakenly think this is the amount of their claim recognized by the Receiver. It is NOT the amount of the recognized claim. Claimants can Accept both of the amounts "paid to" and "received from" , or object to one or both of the amounts.

Many claimants ask if they still have to complete the online forms even if they Accept the Determination.

The answer is yes, and the reasons are explained in Claims FAQ Some claimants report difficulty completing the forms online. We have thoroughly tested, and continually test, the ability to submit these forms to be sure the online process is working properly.

Many claimants ask if completing the W-9 or W-8 and perhaps later receiving an IRS Form means they will have to pay tax on a future distribution from the Receivership. Receiving a Form does not necessarily mean that a claimant will owe taxes on the future distribution.

Please be assured that it is and will be. Do not send any documents directly to the Receiver. The only Court approved Claims Process required claim information to be provided through the Claim Portal. Documents sent to the Receiver will not be accepted or reviewed. Also, do not send emails to or leave voicemails for the Receiver directly. They are not read or listened to. All correspondence should be sent to claims zeekrewardsreceivership.

Every email sent to that address is reviewed and forwarded to the Receiver as appropriate. It is impossible to respond to every individual question, email or call. Common questions are answered by postings at Zeekrewardsreceivership.

All available information and updates are posted there. I am pleased to report that more than 80, Notices of Claims Determination are being sent to Claimants in the ZeekRewards case between today, December 27, , and December 31, These notices direct individuals who have had their Claim Determination issued to log in to the Claim Determination Portal to review their Claim Determination. Such notices are being sent from the email address ZRWDeterminations tgcginc.

To those of you that have received a Claim Determination, please follow the instructions provided in your Claim Determination to either accept or object to the Claim Determination. Do not send emails to ZRWDeterminations tgcginc. That email address will not be monitored.

Any email sent to that email address will be deleted without being read. If you have not received a Claim Determination, please do not contact the Receiver. Not receiving a Claim Determination notice at this time does not mean that your Claim is not valid.

It only means that we have not completed our review of your Claim. Certain Claims will take additional time to evaluate and may require us to make further contact with you before we issue a Claim Determination. We are and will be working hard to reconcile all Claims and send all Claims Determination as soon as we are able to do so. Olivares, along with the plea agreements that each defendant entered.

The Government also filed a motion asking the Court to appoint Kenneth D. Bell as Special Master in this criminal proceeding to make proposed findings of fact and recommendations to the Court regarding the identity of victims and the proper amount of restitution owed to such victims, among other items. The Court granted this motion. Department of Justice are available at the links below. On December 20, , the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC filed a complaint against Dawn Wright-Olivares and Daniel Olivares alleging the unregistered offer and sale of securities, fraud in the offer and sale of securities, and fraud in connection with the purchase and sale of securities.

To settle the SEC's charges, both defendants consented to judgment. The Receiver held a press conference on Friday, December 13, , in Lexington, North Carolina at the site of the Receivership auction.

At this press conference, the Receiver discussed the status of the Receivership claims process, among other items. Click the link below for a video of the relevant portion of the press conference. Many of you seem to be confused about an email notice that was sent to you late last week or over the weekend. We want you to know what we are planning to do in this case.

There is nothing you need to do regarding that motion unless you want to file an objection with the Court to our plan for eventually making distributions to recognized claimants or the other relief requested in the motion. The filing of this motion does not mean that we are about to begin making distributions on claims.

Please read my letter posted on December 13, for more detail on where we are in that process. I simply cannot respond individually to as many as , claimants. Also, do not call or email me with change of email address or other contact information.

FAQ 32 on this website tells you how to update your contact information. The Receiver has given notice of his intention to sell at auction certain real and personal property of the Receivership Defendant. The real properties will be sold at public auction to be held on the 16th day of December, , at p. The auction of these properties will be in conjunction with the personal property auction that will be held the 16th and 17th of December, commencing at a.

For additional information, including descriptions of the real and personal property to be auctioned and further information regarding auction procedures such as bidder qualifications and fee schedules, please visit the RVG Auction website www. On October 22, , Judge Graham C. Mullen issued an Order approving an extended claims deadline of December 1, at P.

The only entities that are permitted to assert claims during the Extended Period are i affiliates whose financial institutions paid the Receiver on or after August 1, for stopped payment instruments and are thereafter charged or debited by their financial institutions for these items and ii financial institutions seeking to file a subrogation claim on behalf of their affiliate customers after paying stopped payment instruments to the Receiver on or after August 1, On May 8, , Judge Graham C.

Pursuant to that order, the claims filing period opened May 15, and closed September 5, The SEC alleges that Rex Venture and Burks fraudulently offered and sold securities in an unregistered offering as part of a combined Ponzi and pyramid scheme. On August 17, , Judge Graham C. Mullen issued an Order appointing Kenneth D.

The August 17th order directs the Receiver to, among other things, take control and possession of and to operate the Receivership Estate, and to perform all acts necessary to conserve, hold, manage and preserve the value of the Receivership Estate.

This website will be the Receiver's primary means of communicating with customers and the public. Please check back periodically for additional information. FAQ 32 - How do I update my contact information address, phone number, email address if it has changed from when I originally submitted my claim s? Upon logging in, you will see the contact information you previously provided in your prior claim submission. The Receiver may ignore any change in this information submitted through alternative means.

Yes, the Receivership Team is seeking to reconcile claims with the books and records of ZeekRewards and is requesting further information from those individuals who either did not provide a ZeekRewards User Name or provided a ZeekRewards User Name that was not valid.

Please follow the link provided in that E-mail so that you can provide a valid User Name, or inform the Receivership Team that you cannot locate or do not have a ZeekRewards User name.

If you did not receive an E-mail requesting this information, you are not required to take further action at this time. This website has been optimized for viewing in a common, modern web browser i. Please use one of these web browsers to ensure the best performance. ZeekRewards Receivership Website. Sincerely, Matthew E. I appreciate your continued support and patience. Matthew E.

The Receivership team appreciates your continued support and patience. Thank you, Matthew E. As always, the Receivership team appreciates your support and patience.

In particular, the Court would like to hear about any of the below circumstances: Becoming insolvent; Filing for bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Code; Suffering substantial loss of a retirement, education, or other savings or investment fund; Making substantial changes to his or her employment, such as postponing his or her retirement plans; Making substantial changes to his or her living arrangements, such as relocating to a less expensive home; and Suffering substantial harm to his or her ability to obtain credit.

Review the Declaration and Release. Confirm or update your contact information for payment. You may logout of the online claim portal or return to the Claimant Summary page. I greatly appreciate your continued support and patience as we work on your behalf. A copy of the Order certifying the class and the initial Complaint in the lawsuit are available at the following links: Order Certifying Defendant Class Complaint in Bell v. Kenneth D. Net Winners Both actions describe in detail the ZeekRewards Ponzi and pyramid scheme and how it was operated from January to August I am and have been grateful for the continuing support and patience of affiliate victims.

If you receive the following message, it indicates we do not believe you finally submitted a timely claim: We have located the account associated with the Registration ID and password which you have tried to use to log in to check the status of a claim. Thank you. Thank you again for your patience and support in this process. Thank you for your patience in this process.

I will post an update on this page when Claim Determinations begin going out later this month. This process is expected to take several months, but the entry of summary judgment is a significant event for the receivership and claimants.

How much of that we will be able to collect for distribution to claimants with allowed claims is uncertain at this time. However, we will pursue collection of these judgments vigorously, and expect the ultimate amount collected will be a substantial sum. A copy of the motion is available at this link. By this Motion, the Receiver requests that the Court enter an order affirming that the Receiver has the authority to deem any claim of a Subject Affiliate who has failed to submit the Required Information by p.

More than 41, claimants have a claim recognized by the ZeekRewards Receivership, but have failed to electronically submit an OFAC certification and release. The ZeekRewards Receivership cannot pay a claimant with a recognized claim unless the claimant submits an OFAC certification and release. Failure to submit an OFAC certification and release may result in these claims being forfeited. Once approved by the Court, the funds held in reserve for the forfeited claims will be released from the reserve for payments to claimants with allowed claims in this case.

The Receiver has and will continue to contact all claimants that hold one of these more than 41, claims regarding the forfeiture of their claim. The Court considered their cooperation with the government in the successful prosecution of Paul Burks in handing down the sentences. I appeared before the Court and argued on behalf of the victims of these crimes, and presented to the Court letters from victims describing the impact that Zeek Rewards had on their lives.

The sentencing of Paul Burks has not yet been scheduled. The sentencing hearings are open to the public and will be held at the Federal Courthouse at W. On August 23, Jaymes Meyer was sentence in federal court in Charlotte, NC to 15 months imprisonment followed by 2 years of supervised release on charges of obstruction of justice. Meyer caused millions of dollars of RVG assets to be transferred to accounts under his personal control. During the last four years the Receiver Team has traced these funds all over the world and through several overseas shell companies and offshore trusts.

On Thursday July 21, , following a three week trial, a federal jury in the Western District of North Carolina found Paul Burks guilty of mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy. Burks was allowed by the Court to remain on bond pending sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled. Victims of Mr. We will post the date, time and location of his sentencing hearing when it is scheduled by the Court.

The trial is open to the public. We will be monitoring the trial and will keep you updated. The indictment against Mr. Burks can be viewed at this link. Also, yesterday we filed a motion for summary judgment, a memorandum in support of the motion and exhibits in the litigation against named defendants and the defendant class of net winners in the United States. By this motion we are asking the Court to rule as a matter of law that ZeekRewards operated as a Ponzi and pyramid scheme, and to find that the net winnings received by the net winners must be returned to the receivership for distribution to claimants with recognized claims.

The motion, memorandum and exhibits may be viewed at this link. The defendants will have an opportunity to respond to this motion. Thereafter, the Court may schedule a hearing. If the Court rules in our favor and grants our motion, the liability of the named defendants and class members will be established.

We will then ask the Court to approve a process to determine the amount of judgment, or money owed, by each of the defendants to the receivership. This process will take several months, but the filing of this motion is a significant event for the receivership and claimants. How much of that we will be able to collect for distribution to claimants with recognized claims is uncertain at this time.

Many foreign Affiliates have reported that they are unable to deposit or cash their distribution checks due to local banking fees and regulations. We filed a motion with the Court seeking a remedy for this problem so that all Affiliates, could receive their distributions. I sought this relief because various foreign Affiliates that were eligible to receive distributions contacted me to alert me to the fact that they were unable to cash the physical checks denominated in US Dollars that they had received.

This relief will allow me to pay those foreign Affiliates who complied with the Court mandated process, but were otherwise unable to recover on account of their Allowed Claim because of their location. If you are eligible to receive your distribution by wire transfer, my team will be sending you an email explaining how you may exercise the option to receive your distribution by wire transfer.

However, if you are eligible to receive your distribution by wire transfer and you choose to do so, all of the fees and costs associated with the payment of the wire will be deducted from your Distribution including without limitation the fees and costs associated with the sending of the wire by the estate, the receiving of the wire transfer by your bank, any currency conversion fee associated with converting the wire transfer from US Dollars to your local currency, any bank charges, and any canceled check fees incurred on account of any uncashed check which was previously issued to you.

In addition, you agree to pay any costs associated with canceling uncashed checks previously issued to you. If you request a wire transfer and it is determined that the cost of the transfer will be greater than your Distribution, your Distribution will be sent by check. In order to receive the wire transfer, you must submit all of the requested banking information via the Claim Portal. You must also give the estate a release in regard to any misdirected wire transfer caused by the entry of any incorrect banking information.

Wire payments will follow the same schedule as check Distributions and will not be made until the Release and OFAC have been submitted. This message is directed primarily to foreign, or non-US resident, Affiliates. It is not to announce another round of distributions, but there will be at least one more distribution to all eligible claimants.

There are three major sources of funds for future distributions. We remain confident of success in that litigation, and that it will result in the collection of tens of millions of dollars for distribution to qualified claimants.

We expect to be able to ask the Court for an Order in our favor this summer. If the Court grants our request we will begin collecting those funds shortly thereafter.

Hopefully that matter will decided this summer as well. Third, we are holding in reserve tens of millions of dollars earmarked for those 41, claimants who would have already received distribution checks if they would simply log into the Claim Portal and electronically sign the Release and OFAC certification. If those claimants do not complete the process to become eligible for a distribution before the end of the Receivership we will ask the court to allow us to distribute those funds to claimants who have.

The bottom line is that we expect additional recovery of tens of millions of dollars for distribution in this year or next. You now know as much as I do. Thank you for your support as we continue to work on your behalf. This website has been optimized for viewing in a common, modern web browser i. Please use one of these web browsers to ensure the best performance. ZeekRewards Receivership Website. Sincerely, Matthew E. I appreciate your continued support and patience. Matthew E.

The Receivership team appreciates your continued support and patience. Thank you, Matthew E. As always, the Receivership team appreciates your support and patience.

In particular, the Court would like to hear about any of the below circumstances: Becoming insolvent; Filing for bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Code; Suffering substantial loss of a retirement, education, or other savings or investment fund; Making substantial changes to his or her employment, such as postponing his or her retirement plans; Making substantial changes to his or her living arrangements, such as relocating to a less expensive home; and Suffering substantial harm to his or her ability to obtain credit.

Review the Declaration and Release.