Breaking Zeek Rewards Update: Claims Process Is Now Closed, Next Subpenas & Clawbacks To The Net Winners
September 6, 2013
To Affiliates and Other Creditors of Rex Venture Group, LLC:
On May 15, 2013, the claims process for Rex Venture Group, LLC d/b/a ZeekRewards (“ZeekRewards”) commenced pursuant to the Order Approving (I) Claims Process, (II) Setting of Bar Date, and (III) Approving Notice Procedures. The claims process closed as of 11:59 pm prevailing Eastern Time on September 5, 2013, and you are no longer able to submit a claim on the Receiver’s Claim Portal. Thank you all for timely complying with the claims process.
As of the close of the claims process on September 5, 2013, 173,782 individual, final claims were submitted on the Claim Portal by almost 200,000 individual registrants. The overwhelming majority of the claims submitted, approximately 99%, were asserted by Affiliate-Investors and Retail Auction Users. As of September 5, 2013, the aggregate total of all final claims was in excess of $550 million. Please note this data is preliminary, unaudited, and subject to change.
We will provide updated data regarding the claims submitted and the claims process in the Receiver’s Status Report for the Third Quarter of 2013. That status report is due on October 30, 2013.
Throughout the claims process, we have been working with our forensic accountants and claims advisors at FTI and our claims agent, Garden City Group, to begin the claims reconciliation process. The reconciliation process will establish the amount of a Claimant’s claim against ZeekRewards that we believe is legitimate. In this process, we will also determine the amount of cash the Claimant received from ZeekRewards.
Due to the overwhelming response to the claims process and the volume of claims submitted, we cannot estimate how long this reconciliation process will take to complete. However, we are undertaking every effort to complete the process as soon as is practicable. To the extent Claimants submitted complete information supporting their claims, we will be able to reconcile those claims more quickly. Once a material number of claims have been reconciled, we will begin issuing Claim Determination letters. We will issue these Claim Determination letters on a rolling basis thereafter, and they will state whether a Claimant’s claim(s) has been allowed or disallowed, the amount allowed (if applicable), any amounts the Claimant received from ZeekRewards during its operation, and how the Claimant may object to the Claim
Determination. These amounts established in the reconciliation process will be used to determine the distribution that will be paid to a Claimant.
It is still my intention to make an interim distribution to Claimants who hold allowed claims as soon as possible. The amount available for distribution, the timing of the distribution, the distribution reserves, and the method of distribution all must be approved by the Court. Therefore, I anticipate filing a motion that will seek to, among other relief: (1) distribute Receivership Assets to Claimants on a pro-rata basis; (2) establish the procedures for the resolution of objections to claim determination amounts; (3) establish the priority of payments among all Claimants (if any); (4) establish the method for determining the amounts of the distributions to be made; (5) establish the method of distributions to be made (check, electronic payment, etc.); (6) address the application and allocation of expenses in making distributions; and (7) address how to treat de minimus distributions. It is anticipated that this motion will be filed prior to the end of this year. A final distribution will be made at the close of the receivership once all recovery efforts are complete.
Please note: If you did not complete and fully submit a claim through the Receiver’s online Claim Portal, or through alternative means expressly authorized by me in writing prior to 11:59
pm prevailing Eastern Time on September 5, 2013, your claim will not be
counted and you will not receive a distribution on account of any
amounts that ZeekRewards may owe you.To Affiliates and Other Creditors of Rex Venture Group, LLC:
On May 15, 2013, the claims process for Rex Venture Group, LLC d/b/a ZeekRewards (“ZeekRewards”) commenced pursuant to the Order Approving (I) Claims Process, (II) Setting of Bar Date, and (III) Approving Notice Procedures. The claims process closed as of 11:59 pm prevailing Eastern Time on September 5, 2013, and you are no longer able to submit a claim on the Receiver’s Claim Portal. Thank you all for timely complying with the claims process.
As of the close of the claims process on September 5, 2013, 173,782 individual, final claims were submitted on the Claim Portal by almost 200,000 individual registrants. The overwhelming majority of the claims submitted, approximately 99%, were asserted by Affiliate-Investors and Retail Auction Users. As of September 5, 2013, the aggregate total of all final claims was in excess of $550 million. Please note this data is preliminary, unaudited, and subject to change.
We will provide updated data regarding the claims submitted and the claims process in the Receiver’s Status Report for the Third Quarter of 2013. That status report is due on October 30, 2013.
Throughout the claims process, we have been working with our forensic accountants and claims advisors at FTI and our claims agent, Garden City Group, to begin the claims reconciliation process. The reconciliation process will establish the amount of a Claimant’s claim against ZeekRewards that we believe is legitimate. In this process, we will also determine the amount of cash the Claimant received from ZeekRewards.
Due to the overwhelming response to the claims process and the volume of claims submitted, we cannot estimate how long this reconciliation process will take to complete. However, we are undertaking every effort to complete the process as soon as is practicable. To the extent Claimants submitted complete information supporting their claims, we will be able to reconcile those claims more quickly. Once a material number of claims have been reconciled, we will begin issuing Claim Determination letters. We will issue these Claim Determination letters on a rolling basis thereafter, and they will state whether a Claimant’s claim(s) has been allowed or disallowed, the amount allowed (if applicable), any amounts the Claimant received from ZeekRewards during its operation, and how the Claimant may object to the Claim
Determination. These amounts established in the reconciliation process will be used to determine the distribution that will be paid to a Claimant.
It is still my intention to make an interim distribution to Claimants who hold allowed claims as soon as possible. The amount available for distribution, the timing of the distribution, the distribution reserves, and the method of distribution all must be approved by the Court. Therefore, I anticipate filing a motion that will seek to, among other relief: (1) distribute Receivership Assets to Claimants on a pro-rata basis; (2) establish the procedures for the resolution of objections to claim determination amounts; (3) establish the priority of payments among all Claimants (if any); (4) establish the method for determining the amounts of the distributions to be made; (5) establish the method of distributions to be made (check, electronic payment, etc.); (6) address the application and allocation of expenses in making distributions; and (7) address how to treat de minimus distributions. It is anticipated that this motion will be filed prior to the end of this year. A final distribution will be made at the close of the receivership once all recovery efforts are complete.
However, I plan to seek court approval to permit the late filing of certain claims by Affiliate- Investors or financial institutions in the following limited circumstance. As some of you may recall, the Receivership previously demanded that financial institutions that improperly stopped payment on cashier’s checks, teller’s checks, and bank money orders presented by the Receivership make good on those items and pay the full value of those items to the Receivership. Many financial institutions complied with this demand in July and August 2013 (though some items still remain unpaid).
In the event that a financial institution pays the Receivership for stopped payment cashier’s checks, teller’s checks, or bank money orders, and financial institutions or affiliates were unable to submit or amend a resulting claim to the Receivership on or before September 5, 2013, I will ask the court to permit the late filing of such claims. I will ask that the Court permit ONLY late claims or amendments of claims from (a) financial institutions seeking to file a subrogation claim on behalf of its affiliate customers after paying stopped payment cashier’s checks, teller’s checks, and bank money orders to the Receivership on or after August 1, 2013; or (b) affiliates whose financial institutions pay the Receivership on or after August 1, 2013 for stopped payment cashier’s checks, teller’s checks, and bank money orders, and are thereafter charged or debited by their financial institutions for these items. Further information, including the date by which such claims must be filed, will be contained in the motion to permit the late filing of these claims.
Finally, as we have previously reported, I intend to pursue court action beginning this fall against those who profited from ZeekRewards because those profits came at the expense of ZeekReward’s victims. Potential targets of such action include “net winners,” former insiders, and anyone else who knew or should have known of the inappropriate nature of ZeekRewards’ activities and yet facilitated those activities for their own gain. Funds recovered from any such actions will be used to further compensate ZeekReward’s victims.
As always, thank you for your continued patience in this process. I continue to be dedicated to returning to you the greatest percentage of the amount of your claims as is possible.
sumit kumar singh
pgdm 1 sem
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