Attorney for man accused in Ponzi scheme says client committed...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The attorney for a Lexington man who was allegedly behind one of the biggest Ponzi schemes ever says his client committed no crime and will fight the charges in court.

Prosecutors said Paul Burks was president of an Internet-based company ZeekRewards that lured hundreds of thousands of investors around the world with promises of big returns they could not deliver.

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"The amount that they had promised to pay, which was nearly $1 billion out, they didn't even have -- a little over 10 percent of that money they actually had," said Glen Kessler, special agent in charge of Charlotte's office of the Secret Service.

Prosecutors shut down ZeekRewards in 2012 and Burks appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Charlotte on Thursday morning, who told him he has been charged with mail, wire and tax fraud, and could face dozens of years in prison and be forced to forfeit money made in the scheme.

Afterward Burks' attorney, Noell Tin, said, "Mr. Burks did not commit any crime. We look forward to presenting our case in front of a jury."

Burks himself left without comment. He is free on $25,000 unsecured bond and the judge told him he cannot leave the area without permission from a probation officer.

One of those who attended Thursday's hearing was Ken Bell, a Charlotte attorney appointed to get money back to investors. He said they have already sent more than $100 million to more than 90,000 investors but that is still a small percentage of the total invested.

A former federal prosecutor, Bell said there's no question in his mind that Zeek Rewards crossed the line.

"At least from my role, a Ponzi scheme existed a pyramid scheme existed, created hundreds of thousands of victims, caused hundreds of millions dollars of loss. I could see why the U.S. Attorney's Office sought an indictment," he said.

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