SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 17121 / September 7, 2001

   SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. TRI-WEST INVESTMENT CLUB, ALYN
   RICHARD WAAGE, AND HAARLEM UNIVERSAL CORPORATION, United States
   District Court for the Northern District of California, Civil Action
   No. C-01-3386

      S.E.C. CHARGES TRI-WEST INVESTMENT CLUB WITH RUNNING FRAUDULENT
                      INTERNET-BASED PRIME BANK SCHEME

   The United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission")
   announced today that it has filed a securities fraud lawsuit in
   connection with a scam that has raised at least $30 million by
   offering phony "Prime Bank" investments over the Internet. The
   Commission charges that the scheme victimized hundreds (and possibly
   thousands) of investors nationwide, including the San Francisco Bay
   Area.

   According to documents filed by the Commission in the federal court
   for the Northern District of California, Tri-West Investment Club
   ("Tri-West") and Alyn Waage, a Canadian citizen residing in Puerta
   Vallarta, Mexico, may have raised more than $30 million from investors
   in the U.S. and abroad. The Commission's complaint alleges that
   Tri-West, through its website, solicits a minimum $1,000 investment in
   a "bank debenture trading program" secured by "certain key
   International `Prime Banks.'" Tri-West claims to guarantee a 120%
   annual rate of return with no risk to investors. In fact, according to
   the Commission, the securities offered by Tri-West are entirely
   fictitious; "bank debenture trading programs" and other purported
   "Prime Bank" instruments do not exist.

   Tri-West's website further claims that the "bank debenture trading
   program" is managed by Haarlem Universal Corporation, purportedly "one
   of the largest and most prestigious trading companies in the world"
   with a thirty year history of generating high returns for investors.
   According to the Commission, however, Haarlem is not a registered
   investment company, and has been in existence only since the scheme
   began in 1999.

   Documents submitted to the court by the Commission show that Mexican
   authorities recently arrested Waage for entering Mexico with a
   suitcase containing $4.5 million in undeclared cashiers checks made
   payable to Haarlem.

   The Commission's complaint charges that Tri-West and Waage violated
   the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, Section 17(a)