Investment scam victim Sarah Chavez. (Chuck Burton/AP)
The tiny town of Lexington, North Carolina, has been left devastated after a $600 million Ponzi scheme by one of its own. Paul Burks, 66, has been accused of masterminding the Ponzi scheme—one of the largest in history—with a company called ZeekRewards, with 50,000 of the nearly 1 million of victims coming from North Carolina. Authorities say Burks siphoned off millions for his own personal use, although Burks insisted that “everything will come out in time” about the alleged scheme. Burks has not been charged, although he agreed to pay a $4 million penalty. ZeekRewards and its sister site Zeekler.com were both shut down in August amid the investigation.
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