SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 17193 / October 16, 2001

   Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael W. Berger, Manhattan
   Investment Fund Ltd., and Manhattan Capital Management, Inc., Civil
   Action No. 00 Civ. 0333 (DLC) (HP) (S.D.N.Y)

   COURT ENTERS FINAL JUDGMENT AGAINST MANHATTAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, INC.

   The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on October
   9, 2001, the Honorable Denise Cote of the United States District Court
   for the Southern District of New York entered a Final Judgment against
   Manhattan Capital Management, Inc. ("MCM"), one of three defendants in
   MCM consented to the entry of the Final Judgment without admitting or
   denying the allegations of the Commission's Complaint. The Final
   Judgment holds MCM liable for disgorgement of $19,874,735.44 that MCM
   was paid by the Manhattan Investment Fund Ltd. ("the Fund") in
   management and incentive fees, and $132,498.24 in prejudgment
   interest, for a total of $20,007,233.68.

   Both MCM and the Fund are the subject of Chapter 11 bankruptcy
   proceedings pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the
   Southern District of New York. The Final Judgment as to MCM provides
   that any distribution made by the estate of MCM with respect to MCM's
   disgorgement liability shall be paid to the bankruptcy estate of the
   Fund for further distribution to the Fund's creditors in accordance
   with the provisions of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

   In its Complaint filed January 18, 2000, the Commission charged
   Michael W. Berger, MCM and the Fund with violations of the antifraud
   provisions of the federal securities laws. The Fund was a hedge fund
   organized under the laws of the British Virgin Islands that was open
   to foreign investors and tax-exempt U.S. investors. MCM was the New
   York-based investment manager of the Fund. Mr. Berger owned and
   controlled MCM and was its only officer. Through MCM, Mr. Berger
   directed the investment activities of the Fund. The Commission has
   asserted that beginning in September 1996, the Fund began to sustain
   market losses that ultimately totaled over $393 million. At the same
   time the fund was sustaining these huge losses, Berger was reporting
   to investors that the Fund was realizing profits of between 12 and 27
   percent annually. To hide the Fund's losses, Berger created phony
   account statements that materially overstated the performance and
   value of the Fund. The information contained in the false account
   statements was provided to investors in the fund, and was shared with
   potential investors.

   The Commission's claims against the Fund have been stayed. The