The Zhunrize Recevier’s clawback lawsuit against Vodaware is a bit unusual.

Zhunrize
was a $100 million dollar Ponzi scheme
shut down by the SEC
in 2014.

Upon being appointed, the Zhunrize Receiver

retained employees from Vodaware, the company that created Zhunrize’s website, to assist in pulling electronic data for use in the claims analysis.

The Receiver, his accountants, and his counsel worked with Vodaware, Zhunrize’s service provider, to recover victim investment data and reconcile the data to other third party victim

data, such as Zhunrize bank statements,and data obtained from Zhunrize’s commission payment records.

Inadvertently, Vodaware’s cooperation with the Receiver might have led to the Receivership uncovering almost $3 million transferred to Vodaware and its principals.

On August 18th the Zhunrize Receiver filed a clawback lawsuit, demanding Vodaware return $2.8 in stolen Ponzi funds.

The Receiver’s lawsuit names Vodaware, Inc., Vodaplex, Inc., Vodaplex, LLC, Wilhelm Berger, Jeffery Todd Spencer, and Sophie Pan as defendants.

Of note is Jeffery Spencer, who in the promotion and operation of Zhunrize went by “Todd Spencer”.

Zhunrize marketing material frequently cites Todd Spencer as co-founder and Vice-President of the company.

A year or so after Zhunrize was shut down Spencer tried to launch
Encore3
, a health and nutrition MLM company.

Encore3 doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere, with the company since having collapsed.

On May 25th, 2017, Spencer and Encore 3 MLM USA LLC were sued by a former employee for
alleged breaches of the Fair Labor Standards Act
.

In his clawback lawsuit the Zhunrize Receiver alleges:

Vodaplex was incorporated in Delaware in 2008 and registered to do business in Georgia in 2010

Will Berger served as CEO of Vodaplex from 2010 to 2012

Jeffery Spencer took over as Vodaplex CEO in 2012, in addition to being CFO since 2010

Vodaplex lost its Georgia business license for failing to file required annual reports

Vodaware was incorporated in Georgia in 2011, with Will Berger serving both as CEO and CFO.

Seemingly, Vodaware was set up as a companion corporation to Vodaplex. After Vodaware was incorporated, Vodaplex remained operational only as a shell company.

Vodaware was formed as part of a restructuring of Vodaplex.

The restructuring transferred the software platform and IT assets of Vodaplex to Vodaware.

Mr. Berger was responsible for Vodaware, while Mr. Spencer maintained responsibility for the remainder of Vodaplex, which operated as a shell to manage sales and third-party relationships.

Berger and Spencer retained a 50% interest each in both Vodaware and Vodaplex.

Prior to co-founding Zhunrize, Jeff Pan was a Vodaplex employee. The Receiver alleges Pan was “one of Vodaplex’s largest producers”.

As Vodaplex’s growth began to sag, Mr. Pan approached Mr. Spencer and proposed to put a company together using the Vodaplex/Vodaware technology.

Zhunrize was incorporated in Georgia in July

🤖 Quick Answer

What was the Zhunrize Ponzi scheme and why did the SEC intervene?
Zhunrize was a $100 million Ponzi scheme that operated until its shutdown by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2014. The scheme defrauded numerous investors who lost substantial sums in the fraudulent investment operation before regulatory authorities intervened to halt its activities.

How did the Receiver discover the alleged fraudulent transfers to Vodaware?
During the receivership process, the appointed Receiver collaborated with Vodaware, the company that developed Zhunrize's website, to recover electronic data and victim investment records. While working together to reconcile victim data with bank statements and commission records, the analysis inadvertently uncovered approximately $3 million in transfers to Vodaware and its principal.

What legal action did the Zhunrize Receiver take against Vodaware?
The

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