SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 15717 / April 22, 1998
ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING ENFORCEMENT
RELEASE NO. 1026 / April 22, 1998
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. MARK T. FUKUHARA,
ANDREW L. O'CONNELL, AND ROBERT J. ANSELMO, United States
District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Civil
Action No. 97-1191-CIV-ORL-18A.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that
on April 15, 1998, the United States District Court for the
Middle District of Florida, Judge G. Kendall Sharp, entered
a Final Judgment Of Permanent Injunction And Other Relief
against Defendant Mark T. Fukuhara. The Final Judgment
enjoins Fukuhara from future violations of the anti-fraud,
reporting, and record-keeping provisions of the federal
securities laws, bars Fukuhara from serving as an officer or
director of any publicly-traded company for a period of five
years, and requires him to pay a civil penalty in the amount
of $ 40,000 over the course of one year. Fukuhara consented
to the Final Judgment without admitting or denying the
Commission's allegations.
Fukuhara, a resident of Redding, California, is the former
president and CEO of Laser Photonics, Inc., an Orlando,
Florida based manufacturer of medical and scientific lasers.
The Commission's Complaint alleged that Fukuhara and certain
other officers of Laser Photonics engaged in a scheme to
defraud the company's investors by materially inflating its
publicly reported revenues and profits and by falsifying its
books and records. More specifically, the Complaint alleged
that Fukuhara and certain other officers ordered the booking
of fictitious sales, failed to reduce recorded revenues for
sales returns and billing errors, and prematurely recognized
future revenues. The Complaint further alleged that
Fukuhara participated in hiding the fraudulent scheme from
Laser Photonics' independent auditors by forging, altering
and concealing corporate records, and by procuring false
sales confirmations and other misleading statements from
certain customers of the company in order to circumvent the
auditors' verification procedures. While the scheme lasted,
Laser Photonics filed with the Commission its 1992 annual
report on Form 10-K, two 1993 quarterly reports on Form 10-
Q, and a stock sale registration statement on Form S-1, all
of which were materially false and misleading.
SNIPPETS:
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. MARK T. FUKUHARA,
District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Civil
on April 15, 1998, the United States District Court for the
a Final Judgment Of Permanent Injunction And Other Relief
enjoins Fukuhara from future violations of the anti-fraud,
reporting, and record-keeping provisions of the federal
other officers of Laser Photonics engaged in a scheme to
publicly reported revenues and profits and by falsifying its
that Fukuhara and certain other officers ordered the booking
sales returns and billing errors,
Fukuhara participated in hiding the fraudulent scheme from
Laser Photonics' independent auditors by forging,
of which were materially false and misleading.
The Final Judgment permanently enjoins Fukuhara from
Sections 10and 13of the Securities Exchange Act
promulgated thereunder, and further enjoins him from aiding
Commission Rules 12b-20, 13a-1 and 13a-13 promulgated
See Litigation Release No. 15518; Accounting And Auditing
Enforcement No. 973
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