SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

   Litigation Release No. 16320 / September 30, 1999

   SEC Files Suit Against Two Sales Agents in Friendly Power Case

   Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jeffrey S. Richman and Stephen
   P. Erlich, Case No. 99-2620-CIV-KING (S.D. Fla.)

   The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that on
   September 29, 1999, it filed a civil complaint against two individuals
   who it alleges participated in the fraudulent telemarketing of
   unregistered securities in Friendly Power Company (Friendly Power).
   The SEC's lawsuit comes less than five months after United States
   District Judge James L. King ordered the principals of Friendly Power
   to pay $2.6 million in disgorgement and penalties for their roles in
   the Friendly Power scheme.

   The SEC alleges that Jeffrey S. Richman (Richman) of Coral Springs,
   Florida, and Stephen P. Erlich (Erlich) of Hollywood, Florida,
   operated boiler-room telemarketers that sold unregistered Friendly
   Power securities to the public between November 1997 and July 1998.
   According to the SEC's complaint, Richman's boiler-room, Miami Lakes,
   Fla.-based Rich Management Corp. (Rich Management), and Erlich's
   boiler-room, LGS, Inc., also based in Miami Lakes, raised over $5.5
   million by selling the Friendly Power securities to investors, many of
   whom were elderly and unsophisticated individuals that used retirement
   funds to pay for their investments. The SEC alleges that in connection
   with those sales, Richman and Erlich made, or instructed sales agents
   they employed to make, egregious misrepresentations to investors
   regarding, among other things, Friendly Power's risk, profitability,
   the need to invest quickly and investors' returns. The SEC alleges
   that in return for selling the Friendly Power securities, Erlich
   received commissions of more than $325,000 in just eight months.

   The SEC alleges that through their conduct, Richman and Erlich
   violated the securities and broker-dealer registration provisions and
   the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Specifically,
   the SEC alleges that Richman and Erlich violated Sections 5(a), 5(c)
   and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 15(a)
   of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC's
   action seeks, among other things, permanent injunctive relief,
   disgorgement and penalties against Richman and Erlich.

   The SEC also announced that simultaneously with the filing of its
   complaint, Richman agreed to settle the action against him by
   consenting, without admitting or denying any of the allegations
   contained in the SEC's complaint, to the entry of a permanent