Two years after their entrapment in a mammoth Ponzi scheme became public, victims of the Zeek Rewards swindle finally may receive some restitution this autumn.
The attorney overseeing what may become one of the largest pyramid schemes in U.S. history — which was run from a small office next to a coin-operated laundromat in Lexington — said the first, initial payments to victims could be made in late September. Receiver Kenneth Bell said last week that the first reimbursements could be for 40 percent of what victims lost in Zeek Rewards, which billed itself as an online multilevel marketing business but turned out to be a classic Ponzi scheme in which early customers were paid with proceeds from later ones.
“Let me emphasize that this is only a first distribution. I am entirely confident that we will make another distribution once we have recovered all assets possible,” Bell said.
Earlier this year, Bell sued former Zeek Rewards insiders, including ringleader Paul Burks of Lexington, and more than 9,000 individuals across the country who took more money out of Zeek Rewards than they contributed.
“This money rightfully belongs to affiliates with allowed claims. Also, I believe we will recover several millions of dollars more from