U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

   Litigation Release No. 16588/ June 14, 2000

   SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. BRUCE M. FOLLICK, DONALD BROOKS,
   KARL E. DONOVAN, AARON J. SANDSTROM, DEREK H. SHAPIRO, a/k/a DAVID
   SHAPIRO, SALVATORE A. TAVOLACCI, FREDERICK W. WALL, FIRST FIDELITY
   FINANCIAL CORP., EXCHANGE ONLINE, INC., FIRST FIDELITY EQUITIES, INC.,
   AMERIVEST ONLINE, INC., FIRST COMMERCE CORP., and FIRST FIDELITY
   INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC., U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y., No. 00
   CIV. 4385 (KMW)

   The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged seven brokers and
   five issuers in a phony private placement scheme that defrauded at
   least 300 investors out of approximately $2.7 million. Simultaneously,
   the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
   announced criminal indictments of these defendants, and others, based
   upon the same underlying conduct. The Commission also charged the
   seven brokers and a sixth entity with acting as unregistered brokers.

   Named in the Commission's Complaint filed in the U.S. District Court
   for the Southern District of New York are
     * Bruce M. Follick, age 37, of Manhattan;
     * Donald Brooks, age 34, of Manhattan;
     * Karl E. Donovan, age 27, of Queens, New York;
     * Aaron J. Sandstrom, age 22, of Huntington Station, New York;
     * Derek H. Shapiro, a/k/a David Shapiro, age 22, of Manhattan;
     * Salvatore A. Tavolacci, age 27, of Staten Island, New York;
     * Frederick W. Wall, age 44, of Elmhurst, New York;
     * First Fidelity Financial Corp.;
     * Exchange Online, Inc.;
     * First Fidelity Equities, Inc.;
     * Amerivest Online, Inc.;
     * First Commerce Corp.; and
     * First Fidelity Investment Management.

   The Complaint alleges as follows

   From April 1997 through at least July 1999, the defendants, in various
   combinations, raised at least $2.7 million through five fraudulent
   offerings of securities. The offerings were conducted in typical
   boiler-room style. Unregistered salespeople, working from various
   offices in lower Manhattan, cold-called investors using a
   high-pressure sales pitch that included numerous material
   misrepresentations and omissions. The defendants used mail drops and
   telephone forwarding services so that investors would not know their
   actual location. The unregistered salespeople were paid undisclosed
   cash commissions of approximately thirty percent.