SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

   Litigation Release No. 16704 / September 15, 2000

   SEC v. JESSE HOGAN, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
   Illinois, Civ. Action No. 00 C 5637 (N.D. Ill. September 14, 2000)

   The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on
   September 14, 2000, it filed civil fraud charges against 24 year-old
   British Columbia resident, Jesse Hogan ("Hogan"), for using the
   Internet to conduct "pump and dump" manipulations of five thinly
   traded stocks. In the span of one month, from July 21 through August
   22, 2000, Hogan disrupted the market for five different stocks,
   pocketed more than $40,000 in illegal profits and caused nearly $1
   million in investor losses. On September 14, 2000, the Hon. Harry D.
   Leinenweber, of the United States District Court for the Northern
   District of Illinois granted the Commission's request for a temporary
   restraining order and asset freeze against Hogan. In a related action,
   the British Columbia Securities Commission on September 14, 2000
   entered an asset freeze against Hogan for the conduct alleged in the
   Commission's Complaint.

   According to the Commission's Complaint, Hogan used the same technique
   for each stock manipulation. First, Hogan accumulated a substantial
   position in the stock of a company quoted on the NASDAQ OTC Bulletin
   Board. Hogan then, after the close of the market and through the
   opening of the market the following trading day, used between four and
   eight alias screen names to post hundreds of messages about the
   targeted Bulletin Board company on Internet message boards and sent
   numerous e-mails with the identical message. The spam postings and
   e-mails falsely claimed that a well-known "blue chip" company would
   soon acquire the outstanding stock of the targeted company at a
   substantial premium over its current market price. The spam postings
   and e-mails prompted a surge in the price and volume of the targeted
   company's stock. Hogan then liquidated his position, selling into the
   buying surge he created. The Complaint alleges that Hogan has realized
   at least $42,750 in illicit profits from his scheme. Hogan's scheme
   has also caused investors to suffer losses of approximately $931,000.

   For Hogan's specific pump and dump manipulations, the Commission's
   Complaint and documents filed in support of emergency relief allege
     * RSI Systems, Inc. ("RSI Systems") Hogan bought 25,000 shares of
       RSI Systems on August 18, 2000, for less than $.40 per share and a
       total cost of $8,617.21. After trading closed on August 21, Hogan
       posted hundreds of messages on numerous Internet message boards
       and sent e-mails falsely claiming that RSI Systems was likely to
       be acquired by one of two Nasdaq-listed companies for $4 per
       share. After Hogan's false messages appeared, the price of RSI