About $55 million in forfeited funds are being returned to victims of "AdSurfDaily" and related Internet-based Ponzi schemes, according to the Dept. of Justice.

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The funds were seized from AdSurfDaily founder and operator Thomas A. "Andy" Bowdoin Jr., of Quincy, Fla. by the U.S. Secret Service.

On November 23, 2010, Bowdoin was indicted in the U.S. District Court for D.C. on five counts of wire fraud, one count of securities fraud, and one count of unlawful sale of unregistered securities.

The indictment alleges he ran a Ponzi scheme  disguised as the online advertising company AdSurf Daily, Inc. (ASD). He operated it from September 2006 until August 2008 at various websites including www.adsurfdaily.com, www.adcashgenerator.com, and www.lafuentedinero.com.

He has pleaded not guilty to all seven counts of the indictment and is awaiting trial.

The U.S. Attorney's Office took proceeds ranging from numerous bank accounts to property to luxury watercraft. They will be returned to about 8,400 victims through an administrative process called "remission,"

“We are putting $55 million back into the pockets of innocent victims of this online Ponzi scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Machen said in a news release. “As we did in this case, we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to recover every penny we can find for victims of financial fraud.”