Mathias Rust-A Teenager Who Changed the World.

On September 4th, 1987, Mathias Rust, a 19 years old amateur German pilot, was found guilty and sentenced to four years in a general-regime labor camp in Soviet Union, because he flew a light commercial plane illegally through the so called iron curtain of Soviet Union and landed near Red Square in Moscow. His action was referred as heroic, reckless, impulsive, and stupid for possibly triggering the World War 3, while some considering him as one of the causes to end the Cold War.

Back in 1980s, it was a critical decade of Cold War between the western world  led by the US and NATO alliances and the communist world led by Soviet Union. World politics settings were full of negotiations on banning nuclear missiles, military confrontations, propaganda, spy, and so on. Berlin wall dividing West and East Germany was still there. It was a period that people was convinced the World War 3 was an imminent threat.

In 1982, 250,000 protestors against nuclear weapons gathered in Bonn, West Germany.   In June 1982, 750,000 protestors in New York marched from UN headquarter to Central Park to call for a Nuclear Freeze. A missile defense system was installed in Western Europe and the US launched a Strategic Defense Initiative aka a  Star Wars program, which people did not believe that it would be a full proof method for nuclear missiles. President Reagan branded Soviet Union as an Evil Empire in one of his speeches, while Soviet Union accidentally shot down a Korean Airline Flight 007. Soviet Union was also on the perception that the Western world planned a full force attack on them.

In October of 1986, the Reykjavik Summit was held between US President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland to ban ballistic missiles. The talk was collapsed in the last minute, which caused widely disappointment in global communities.

From the tension of nuclear war threat and the failure of Reykjavik Summit, this drove a teenager Mathias Rust to take a matter to his hands and plotted an unthinkable mission. On May 28th, 1987, Mathias Rust flew a light commercial plane from Finland to Moscow. His plane was tracked by Soviet air defense system and interceptors several times, but never got authorized to shoot down. Then, his plane was mistakenly for a friendly aircraft. He flew through an impregnable iron curtain of Soviet Union and landed safely near Red Square close to Kremlin in Moscow, the capital city of Soviet Union. 

Rust claimed that he tried to build an 'imaginary bridge' between the West and the East. He said that his flight was intended to reduce tension and suspicion on both sides of the Cold War. Rust's flight through an impregnable air-defense system caused great impact on Soviet military and led to the largest shakedown of military reform since 1950s. Gorbachev used this opportunity to remove hundreds of his opponents in the Soviet military. It put a stain on the prestige of Soviet military, which helping put an end to the Cold War in not many years afterwards.

After his landing in Moscow, he stood trials on September 2nd, 1987 and was sentenced for a four year in a general regime labor prison for hooliganism, violation of aviation law and Soviet's border. However, he was not sent to the labor camp. He was kept in a high security temporary detention facility in Moscow.

In December 1987, two months after his trial, President Reagan and President Gorbachev signed treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe. Not so long afterwards, Supreme Soviet ordered an early release on Rust in August 1988 to show a goodwill gesture to the west.

Rust returned to West Germany with a great deal of media attention. The journalist called him a psychological unstable and unworldly in a dangerous manner. Rust's later life had several issues and he appeared to live a fragmented life. He got convicted on a couple of occasions. However, in the popular culture, Mathias Rust was remembered as the teenager who flew through a supposedly impregnable air defense system of Soviet Union, which led to a major restructuring in Soviet military and the end of the Cold War in 1991.

The Origins of Labor Day

(From PBS News Hour)

The observance of Labor Day began over 100 years ago.

Conceived by America's labor unions as a testament to their cause, the legislation sanctioning the holiday was shepherded through Congress amid labor unrest and signed by President Grover Cleveland as a reluctant election-year compromise.

Pullman, Illinois was a company town, founded in 1880 by George Pullman, president of the railroad sleeping car company. Pullman designed and built the town to stand as a utopian workers' community insulated from the moral (and political) seductions of nearby Chicago.

Its residents all worked for the Pullman company, their paychecks drawn from Pullman bank, and their rent, set by Pullman, deducted automatically from their weekly paychecks. The town, and the company, operated smoothly and successfully for more than a decade.The town was strictly, almost feudally, organized: row houses for the assembly and craft workers; modest Victorians for the managers; and a luxurious hotel where Pullman himself lived and where visiting customers, suppliers, and salesman would lodge while in town.

But in 1893, the Pullman company was caught in the nationwide economic depression. Orders for railroad sleeping cars declined, and George Pullman was forced to lay off hundreds of employees. Those who remained endured wage cuts, even while rents in Pullman remained consistent. Take-home paychecks plummeted.

And so the employees walked out, demanding lower rents and higher pay. The American Railway Union, led by a young Eugene V. Debs, came to the cause of the striking workers, and railroad workers across the nation boycotted trains carrying Pullman cars. Rioting, pillaging, and burning of railroad cars soon ensued; mobs of non-union workers joined in.

The strike instantly became a national issue. President Grover Cleveland, faced with nervous railroad executives and interrupted mail trains, declared the strike a federal crime and deployed 12,000 troops to break the strike. Violence erupted, and two men were killed when U.S. deputy marshals fired on protesters in Kensington, near Chicago, but the strike was doomed.

On August 3, 1894, the strike was declared over. Debs went to prison, his ARU was disbanded, and Pullman employees henceforth signed a pledge that they would never again unionize. Aside from the already existing American Federation of Labor and the various railroad brotherhoods, industrial workers' unions were effectively stamped out and remained so until the Great Depression.

It was not the last time Debs would find himself behind bars, either. Campaigning from his jail cell, Debs would later win almost a million votes for the Socialist ticket in the 1920 presidential race.

In an attempt to appease the nation's workers, Labor Day is born

The movement for a national Labor Day had been growing for some time. In September 1894, union workers in New York City took an unpaid day off and marched around Union Square in support of the holiday. But now, protests against President Cleveland's harsh methods made the appeasement of the nation's workers a top political priority. In the immediate wake of the strike, legislation was rushed unanimously through both houses of Congress, and the bill arrived on President Cleveland's desk just six days after his troops had broken the Pullman strike.

1894 was an election year. President Cleveland seized the chance at conciliation, and Labor Day was born. He was not reelected.

In 1898, Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor, called it "the day for which the toilers in past centuries looked forward, when their rights and their wrongs would be discussed...that the workers of our day may not only lay down their tools of labor for a holiday, but upon which they may touch shoulders in marching phalanx and feel the stronger for it."

Labor Day: a good-bye to summer

Almost a century since Gompers spoke those words, though, Labor Day is seen as the last long weekend of summer rather than a day for political organizing. In 1995, less than 15 percent of American workers belonged to unions, down from a high in the 1950's of nearly 50 percent, though nearly all have benefited from the victories of the Labor movement.

And everyone who can takes a vacation on the first Monday of September. Friends and families gather, and clog the highways, and the picnic grounds, and their own backyards -- and bid farewell to summer.

Watch Out for Blue Moon!!!

By: Dr. Tony Phillips, Science@NASA

August 30, 2012 - When someone says "Once in a Blue Moon," you know what they mean: Rare, seldom, even absurd.

This year it means August 31st. For the second time this month, the Moon is about to become full. There was one full Moon on August 1st/2nd, and now a second is coming on August 31st. According to modern folklore, whenever there are two full Moons in a calendar month, the second one is "blue."


Cue up the Elvis records! "Blue Moon... You saw me standing alone, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own." In song and literature, blue moons have long symbolized lost love and melancholy. Elvis set the standard for lunar heartbreak in his 1956 pop hit "Blue Moon."

But will the moody Moon of August 31st actually turn blue? Probably not.

Most Blue Moons look pale gray and white, indistinguishable from any other Moon you've ever seen. Squeezing a second full Moon into a calendar month doesn't change the physical properties of the Moon itself, so its color remains the same.

With that caveat in mind, however, be aware that on rare occasions it can happen.

 
A truly-blue Moon usually requires a volcanic eruption. Back in 1883, for example, people saw blue moons almost every night after the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa exploded with the force of a 100-megaton nuclear bomb. Plumes of ash rose to the very top of Earth's atmosphere, and the Moon … it turned blue!

Krakatoa's ash was the reason. Some of the plumes were filled with particles 1 micron wide, about the same as the wavelength of red light. Particles of this special size strongly scatter red light, while allowing blue light to pass through. Krakatoa's clouds thus acted like a blue filter.

People also saw blue-colored Moons in 1983 after the eruption of the El Chichon volcano in Mexico. And there are reports of blue Moons caused by Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991.

Certain forest fires can do the same trick. A famous example is the giant muskeg fire of Sept. 1953 in Alberta, Canada. Clouds of smoke containing micron-sized oil droplets produced lavender suns and blue Moons all the way from North America to England.

There are plenty of wildfires burning in the hot, dry USA this month. If any of them produce smoke with an extra dose of micron-sized particles, the full Moon might really turn blue.

On the other hand, maybe it will turn red. Often, when the moon is hanging low, it looks red for the same reason that sunsets are red. The atmosphere is full of aerosols much smaller than the ones injected by volcanoes. Measuring less than a micron in diameter, these aerosols scatter blue light, while leaving the red behind. For this reason, red Blue Moons are far more common than blue Blue Moons.

Sounds absurd? Yes, but that's what a Blue Moon is all about. Step outside at sunset on August 31st, look east at the moonrise, and see what color presents itself.

Zeek Affiliates --Basic Understaining on SEC Investigation Process

Whenever I tried to ask questions to my upline about the status of Zeek Rewards' investigation, I got a very vague answer with encouragement that Zeek Rewards would be back in business very soon. This was very confusing since I read the announcement by SEC said that Mr. Paul Burks had already entering settlement process with SEC and paid $4 millions penalty fee on the allegation. So, how could Rex Venture Group d/b/a Zeek Rewards.com would come back in business again? I decided to study the SEC investigation process myself, here is what I found from SEC's website. 

SEC investigations can be triggered in many ways, including the review of forms filed with the SEC, routine inspections of persons or entities regulated by the SEC, tips from members of the public, referrals from other government agencies, news reports, and information received in other SEC investigations. Regardless of how they are triggered, SEC investigations are almost always conducted privately.

The stages of a typical SEC investigation are represented as a flowchart below. The first stage of an SEC action is typically an informal investigation. At this stage, the Commission staff has no formal subpoena power, and hence must rely on the cooperation of the relevant individuals and entities to gather information. At the conclusion of an informal investigation, SEC staff may recommend that the Commission undertake an enforcement action seeking sanctions, seek a formal order of investigation from the Commission, or conclude the investigation without recommending an enforcement action.

When the SEC staff request and receive a formal order, the next stage is a formal investigation. The Commission approves requests for formal orders when it finds that it is likely that a securities law violation has occurred. The formal order grants designated SEC staff the ability to issue subpoenas and to administer oaths.

When the staff has concluded its investigation, it may recommend to the Commission that enforcement proceedings be commenced, or it may determine to take no further action. If the staff has determined to recommend that the Commission commence an enforcement proceeding, it typically gives prospective defendants a Wells notice informing them of the staff?s intent. The recipient of a Wells notice has a period of time, generally one month, to provide the staff with a Wells submission, which is essentially a brief arguing why an enforcement proceeding is not merited. Upon reviewing the Wells submission, the staff may elect to modify or reverse its recommendation to the Commission.

Upon the staff's recommendation to bring an enforcement action, the Commission has several options. It may authorize a civil action in federal court, an administrative proceeding before an administrative law judge, or no enforcement proceeding at all. Whether the Commission authorizes a civil action in federal court or an administrative proceeding depends on several factors, including the severity of the allegations, the nature of the conduct alleged, tactical considerations, and the type of sanctions sought. 

After reading the investigation process, I have a better understanding that in fact Rex Venture Group has already passed the last stage on the flow chart. In other words, SEC has supposedly gone through investigation steps from top to bottom as shown in the flow chart--Informal and formal investigation, Well notice, Wells submission, Civil Action, and Settlement. This makes some top affiliates claimed that they had no idea about this SEC investigation and asset freezing prior to the SEC announcement on the last Friday, August 16th. I imagine that the attorney and CEO at least would be fully aware of the ongoing investigation. It is totally in my humble opinion, of course. 

Does it mean this is a game over for Zeek Affiliates? Thank you for your participation in our show sort of speaks? May be, but Not quite!!!! As you may already learned that a group of top Zeek Affiliates including Dave Kettner an experienced internet marketer and Robert Craddock a former employee of Rex Venture Group lead a campaign on Facebook, radio shows, and websites called Zeek Rewards Affiliates United Against The SEC. They accept donation on their website zteambiz.com to hire an international law firm called SNR Denton  to be a focal affiliates' representation against SEC that we believe that SEC could be misconducting and mishandling the investigation of Rex Venture Group, LLC. They aim to unlock the involvement of SEC and its receiver Mr. Ken Bell. That would unfreeze the 15 oversea bank accounts and get Rex Venture Group and its popular penny auction website zeekrewards.com back to business.

They claimed that SEC probably used unlawful tactics to force Paul Burks, CEO of Rex Venture Group into settlement and giving up his right in Rex Venture Group's asset and its interests. The fact that Zeek Rewards Affiliates United challenged SEC, this would probably lead to revealing the long and short of how Rex Venture Group conducted their business in a so called penny auction and the affiliate program.

Although we do not know who would prevail eventually, one sure thing is it would take a long time before any of the former Zeek Rewards Affiliates would receive refund checks back.

Top Zeek Affiliate Confessed??

A guy claimed to be a Top Zeek Affiliate sent out an email confessed his involvement and insider's information of Zeek Rewards as an organized ponzi scheme designed by the firm's insider. It is impossible to know if this email content is accurate. As a former Zeek Affiliate I hope it is not true. Having said that, if it is, it would be one of the most revealing piece of evident of how this ponzi scheme worked.

Deer in the headlight. That is how I feel after reading this.

Hello,

Below is the text of an email from a Top Zeek affiliate that "supposedly" wants to expose the Zeek scheme.  This is NOT from me or any one on our team (not that I am aware of).  I cannot confirm whether it is true or not, but it is interesting to read.

By the way, our Facebook site is now at: http://www.facebook.com/zeekbatesonline

EMAIL:

--------------------------------

Anonymous Affiliate on August 19, 2012 at 5:49 pm said:

Okay...

I can't take it anymore, after reading all these comments I don't care. I know everything that happened, I was greedy and I was selfish and I am exposing everything I know because I am probably the only affiliate high up that will do so:

I was personally introduced by a couple in Hawaii as I was vacationing about ZeekRewards and Zeekler. D****l D*****s which I have connections with as well communicated on a regular basis. I was told I could join as an affiliate in May of 2011, and I signed on with 10K because I was told what nobody else besides us at the top were, and it was the following:

"ZeekRewards is designed as bid purchases but in reality the cash is from new affiliates, there is a design to slow the growth and plans to keep this running for at least 2 years before it crumbles." The plans were shown to me clear in writing and I even had access to the actual earnings from the penny auction which was very low.

I knew I would make money, because a few affiliates were "planted" in some of the fastest growing MLM states, Florida, Utah and a couple others. Every who was planted put in 10K or got a loan knowing they would get their return. Not only were we guaranteed are money back from D***l D*****s and D**n W****t O******s, we had direct contact formation. I myself spoke to D**n about twice a week and I allegedly knew that this would fall apart in 2 years or just a bit less.

The month is November 2011: I start recruiting some people, showing them how much I am making. I am dishonest telling them I only started with $500 and where I am at now, which is only about 30,000 points from May. I am making about $500 per day and show a guy who is trying to sale me insurance. He looks at it and of course believes it signing up just a bit later.

I know from speaking to D**n on a regular basis that we are nothing more then just a recruitment scheme, luring in people one after the next by telling people about the penny auctions and how much they make which in reality it makes up less than 2% of the profit coming in, but they don't have to know that.

By December I start recruiting more people, but I start using Facebook knowing that I don't want too many local enemies since I am doing everything out of my small business. I also know that the people in early will get their money back... it's all timing and a recruiting game now.

I add as many friends as possible on Facebook (5,000) being the limit and build report, anyone who doesnt talk to me I delete and move to the next. I know that the money is there and Zeek continues to grow.

That month I become Senior Executive in ZeekRewards, I have my 6 diamonds and a few gold and silver affiliates. Nobody has put big money in yet other then $500 here and 1,000 there.

I get a call from D***l D*****s, his account is nearing 400,000 VIP, he tells me how he recruits and his personal success.. I know I need to push the recruiting more.

I start working even harder at Zeek, but by this point and time one of the affiliates I recruited in November of 2011 is a recruiter himself. He pulls in doctors, lawyers and more even unapproved spreadsheets are going around showing what you will make. The business grows, but remember only a few planted affiliates know the true business model, we use our backoffices to lure people in with the large amounts we are making. We know better not to tell anyone else because when it all crashes it will trickle back up to us, we continue presenting the "penny auction" as usual.

By now I almost have 500 people in my Matrix and my account is over 100,000 VIP. I have pulled out just over 10K and show people proof of checks occasionally to lure them in. It works.

I start hosting group meetings out of my business getting the word out, the group grows and grows every week and so does my account, know that the bigger the VIP, the easier to lure people in and the more my cashout option will be.

By this time ZeekRewardsNews which is the official blog and news site ZeekRewards is launched keeps affiliates up to date as well as their Facebook page. The news site is only used to build a trusting relationship with readers, nothing more than just to lure people in.

Updates range from when the site will be down, maintenance, and upcoming details.

May 2012: This marks the date Zeek changes banks, the banks are offshore in South Korea. I have a personal call with D**n and she tells me how fast the business is growing, gives me a few numbers of what we are making per day, at the time we are over 3 million per day- the actually penny auction site bringing in about 10-15k per day while the other is all affiliate money.

No more paper checks are being sent out by Zeek, simply because of using off-shore bank accounts, Zeek hides the mess by using ewallets NXpay, AlertPay and SolidTrust. Zeek hopes that some people wont know how to take the money from their account leaving more in for us we we cashout.

Zeek happily allowed anyone who requested money to take money out knowing that checks and proof would entice more people to join and put more money in- this worked just as was planned by D**n, D***l and P**l.

It's the end of May 2012, I get an urgent call from P**l surprisingly, he tells me that the payouts and VIP accounts are growing too fast and he doesnt want to scare people away. He manages the Retail Profit Pool and continues to average it at 1.5% so others don't pull their money out leaving more for all of us.

P**l uses about 1.9 to 2% on Thursdays, 1.4% Fridays and weekends are about 0.8%. I am told by P**l as well as D**n later in a conference call to draw out money but not all of it.

D**n: "Don't draw all of your money out, it will be too suspicious for those who see your account and its under 10,000 VIP or really low" We don't want people catching on, pull out a decent amount but leave quite a bit in there.

My VIP at the time was over 500,000... I drew out over $35,000 per week in increments. and I knew that all funds that I actually wanted had to be out soon.

It's now the mid of June, I get call from D**n telling me that the plugs will be pulled on the company in August and to take out what I need or can. I set my account to 0 taking out $60,000 here, $40,000 there totaling a little over $350,000 in the period of just 2 months.

I'm not allowed to tell anybody on my team, even the guy below me who has 2 accounts for him and his wife that total nearly 500,000 points. I give hints and recommend he takes some money out to take a nice vacation, he does pull out a little over $50,000.

I know that by exposing the scheme it will only be bad for me at this point and time, there is no point. I tell people on the team to 0 out their accounts to move over to Bids That Give (this was a hint) but few listened.

we are now in August, people still ask to see my account, even after pulling out over $350,000 recently my VIP remains at 474,000.

The final meeting I have people want to buy bids, I know I could refuse seeing that we are coming to an end, but that would only cause suspicion if I refused.

It's Tuesday August 14, just a few days before Zeek shuts down its site. I get a final call from D**n telling me thank you, we are walking away before we can continue paying out anymore. We talk and I know it's coming to an end.

D**n asks me where my VIP on the account is making sure I have a good amount in there to cover the trail, in the even I didn't they could manually input the numbers for me. I did leave close to 500,000 in my account. In Zeek total since I started I have taken out close to $800,000 being the top guy in my state and knowing how the scheme worked and when it would end.

What I did was dishonest, greedy, hurtful and more. Why am I admitting this? Because I am ashamed, it doesn't matter anymore. I created many debts as only a few people on my team pulled out what they initially made. It's too late to come out and knowingly admit my name now...

All the updates on ZeekRewards News about prepaid cards, ZeekBates and other new stuff coming out was just a shame to funnel in more money and keep the money in the affiliates accounts.

I even told people that with the new updates the VIP earnings would double from the revenue, I lied. I did many wrong things,and now I admit them

You see, this was organized and disguised so well, that thousands of people got hurt. Call me an idiot, tell me to burn in hell, but I am the only affiliate in the upline with connections to D**n, D***l and P**l who will share my story- my story is the truth and I believe people should know for the sake of their own good.

Zeek was nothing more than a hurtful scheme, buying fake customers and more.

------------------------------------------------------

Only time will tell if any of this is true.  Maybe we will never know!

Regards,

Zeek affiliate Insider

Click Here to Learn More

Zeek Rewards investors could hit 2 million

August 29, 2012 9:09 AM

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Nash Dunn

LEXINGTON, N.C. – The receiver for Rex Venture Group, LLC, says as many as two million people may have invested in Zeek Rewards.

In a press conference call Monday, Charlotte attorney and court-appointed receiver Kenneth Bell said it will be a “long time” before any money returns to the hands of affiliates who bought in with Zeek Rewards.

“We want to have substantially all of the funds before we start to issue checks,” Bell said, adding that it’s hard to predict a timetable for the future.

It has been about 10 days since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) froze the assets of Rex Venture Group, the Lexington-based company that operated Zeek Rewards and penny auction site Zeekler.com. The SEC alleges the company was operating an illegal pyramid and Ponzi scheme since January 2011, defrauding millions of people of their money.

The SEC estimates that Zeek Rewards raised $600 million from investors, a number Bell said will also be on the low end.

“This is one of the largest Ponzi schemes to ever go into receivership,” Bell said, adding that he and his colleagues have been “drinking out of a fire hose” since being appointed Aug. 17.

Rex Venture Group and Zeek Rewards currently holds about $225 million in investor funds at about 15 foreign and domestic financial institutions, according to SEC estimates.

Zeek’s former Chief Executive Officer Paul Burks, 65, also hold millions of dollars in multiple bank accounts. For instance, one Charles Schwab account registered in the name of “Paul Ray Burks” contains $1.3 million in securities and about $2.3 million in cash, according to court records.

Burks has not admitted or denied any of the allegations, but has agreed to pay a $4 million penalty for his actions.

Most of those funds known to the SEC have already been identified and frozen, Bell said. Now, it’s his job to find things that aren’t readily available and obvious, he said.

“We are trying to collect as big a pool as possible for these investors,” Bell said. “Until we know how much we are able to collect, we just don’t know how much of a pool we have.”

Since the SEC’s action two weeks ago, many have wondered whether the receiver will use federal “clawback” laws to retrieve any money actually paid to affiliates. According to the SEC’s complaint, Zeek Rewards paid out nearly $375 million to its qualified affiliates who bought bids for the penny auction site Zeekler.com, posted promotional advertisements online or recruited other people to the program.

When asked if “clawbacks” will be in order, Bell said, “We’re going to go after every dollar held by someone that ought not have it.”

At this point, the ratio of affiliates who lost money compared to those who made money is unclear. However, based on the number of complaints circulating online, most suspect there are far more losers.

Jesse Meyer, of Wisconsin, put in about $50 with Zeek Rewards and made about $500. Like most affiliates that profited, Meyer said he paid taxes on his earnings and filled out a 1099 miscellaneous income form.

“I don’t see how they are going to take that back,” Meyer said. “I already paid taxes on it, and I don’t think I should have to pay it back.”

Meyer, who said that the SEC moved far too quickly in its court action, added that it will create a large problem if the government goes after everyone who made money with the company.

“Everyone’s taxes won’t be right,” Meyer said. “If they want to go that route, then they must be able to pay me back those taxes I paid.”

Meyer isn’t the only one expressing concern with the SEC’s action. More than 25,000 people have signed an online petition that supports keeping Zeek Rewards open. Additionally, a website entitled “Zteambiz” has been created for Zeek Rewards affiliates “united against what is believed to be unlawful action by the SEC.”

A handful of affiliates have worried for weeks about cashier’s checks they sent to the company, but were never deposited. On Monday, Bell said cashier’s checks will be part of the pool of money he is obligated to collect.

“A lot of people have been trying to cancel those (checks),” Bell said. “Under the law, those cashier’s checks are assets of the receivership, and under the law, I have to take those funds and make them a part of the pool to make things as whole as I can.”

Most banks are not allowing stop-payments on the cashier’s checks, citing recommendations they have received from the North Carolina Attorney General’s office as well as statutes included in the Uniform Commercial Code. However, some banks, like the N.C. State Employees Credit Union, have placed outstanding funds from cashier’s checks into an escrow account and are awaiting approval from the SEC to dish that money back out.

Robin Snyder, a Zeek Rewards affiliate from Arizona, sent two cashier’s checks for $10,000 each to the company in mid-August. One of the check’s was deposited just two days before the company shut its doors, and the other has yet to be cashed.

Snyder contacted her local bank to cancel the payments, but was informed she could not stop the transaction.

“That check has been stolen from me,” Snyder said. “That is not their asset. It’s still my asset.”

Snyder said she has also tried to file a “declaration of loss,” claiming her check was stolen.

“To me, I can say that it has been stolen because a government agency closed them down for fraud,” Snyder said. “What is fraud? Fraud is theft.”

Bell said he continues to receive thousands of emails and phone calls from concerned Zeek Rewards affiliates, like Snyder. He said most of them are wondering when they will get their money back.

“I understand that behind all of these stories is heartbreak, and I see it as my job to collect and hold every dollar,” Bell said. “That’s going to take a while.”

Bell has visited Zeek’s headquarters at 803 West Center St. and is in the process of going through “terabytes” of information provided by the company. While he said he has been working with Burks’ attorney, he said has not been in direct contact with the former CEO.

For now, Bell said the best thing for affiliates to do is visit the website, www.zeekrewardsreceivership.com, not his direct contacts at work.

“Every one of those emails and phone calls gets in the way of them trying to recover funds and help them out,” Bell said.

Nash Dunn can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 227, or atnash.dunn@the-dispatch.com.

Read more: http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/rewards-74888-zeek-hit.html#ixzz24ypd6oQV

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