U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C.

LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 17191 / October 16, 2001

   Securities and Exchange Commission v. Steven H. Schiffer, Joann R.
   Schulz, Gary S. Kramer, Jonathan Solow, Frank J. Cannata, and Peter G.
   Mintz, 97 Civ. 5853 (RO) (S.D.N.Y.)

   SUMMARY JUDGMENT ENTERED AGAINST ESTATES OF STEVEN SCHIFFER AND GARY
   KRAMER; FUNDS RECEIVED TO DATE AND TO BE RECEIVED IN THE FUTURE TO BE
   PAID TO U.S. TREASURY

   The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") announced today
   that summary judgment in , 97 Civ. 5853 (RO) (S.D.N.Y.), was entered
   on May 10, 2001, by the United States District Court for the Southern
   District of New York against the estates of Steven H. Schiffer and
   Gary S. Kramer, the remaining defendants in the action. The court
   ordered (i) the Schiffer estate to pay disgorgement of $4,200,000,
   plus prejudgment interest of $2,996,980, representing profits Schiffer
   unlawfully derived from the direct sale of stock of Phoenix Laser
   Systems, Inc. ("Phoenix") in violation of Section 17(a) of the
   Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act"), Sections 10(b) and 13(a) of
   the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rules 10b-5 and 13a-1
   thereunder; and (ii) the Schiffer and Kramer estates to pay
   disgorgement on the basis of joint and several liability of
   $11,578,250.00, plus prejudgment interest of $8,261,855.00,
   representing proceeds Schiffer and Kramer unlawfully derived from the
   sale of unregistered shares of Phoenix stock in violation of Section 5
   of the Securities Act. On September 20, 2001, the court ordered that
   all funds now being held in the Court Registry in connection with the
   action, plus all interest thereon, as well as all funds the Commission
   may collect in the future in connection with the action, be paid to
   the United States Treasury.

   The Commission's complaint included the following allegations (i) from
   May-August 1992, Schiffer and Kramer, among others, manipulated the
   price of Phoenix's common stock (Phoenix, now defunct, was in the
   business of developing a laser workstation to perform eye surgery);
   (ii) from May 1990-April 1992, Schiffer caused Phoenix to make
   materially false and misleading statements in Commission filings
   concerning the number of orders received for Phoenix's product, the
   status of its Food and Drug Administration applications, and
   anticipated revenue from the sale of its product; (iii) from January
   1991-July 1993, Schiffer engaged in unlawful insider trading while in
   possession of material, nonpublic information concerning the matters
   about which Phoenix made false statements in Commission filings; and
   (iv) from September 1992-July 1993, Schiffer and Kramer sold