Emphasis supplied. I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked.SEC wrote:The Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) deems it appropriate that cease-and-desist proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), against Adam Troy Dooly (“Dooly” or “Respondent”).
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From at least April 2012 until August 2012, Dooly served as a paid consultant to Rex Venture Group, LLC (”RVG”), the parent company of ZeekRewards.com (“ZeekRewards”) ... Under two successive contracts, RVG agreed to pay Dooly $6,000 per month to provide various consulting and public relations services that included, among other things, responding to negative press about RVG and ZeekRewards; providing live reporting from company events; conducting video chat interviews to “promote company, founders, officers, products and culture”; and providing media exposure to facilitate market penetration and improve public perception. In furtherance of the foregoing, Dooly promoted ZeekRewards on his website, MLMHelpdesk.com; posted blog entries and youtube.com videos giving publicity to ZeekRewards; and conducted at least one radio interview promoting the company.
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In each instance of public relations or promotion in various media outlets, Dooly failed to disclose to his readers and listeners that RVG was paying him for such publicity ... in at least one instance, Dooly denied (or misled his audience about) receiving compensation from RVG (apart from reimbursement of expenses) when asked about his compensation during a public radio program.
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Respondent shall pay disgorgement of $3,000, prejudgment interest of $98.81, and
civil penalties of $3,000 to the Receiver
Perhaps, in a reflection of his newfound dedication to Truth, Dooly will rename his site "MLM ShillDesk".