UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 17448 / March 28 , 2002

   SEC Files Actions Against PictureTel Corp. and Three Individuals in
   Multi-Million Dollar Financial Fraud

   The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") announced today
   that it filed a civil injunctive action against Leonard J. Guida of
   Sudbury, Massachusetts, the former Vice President of Finance,
   Worldwide Sales and Service for PictureTel Corp.'s sales department,
   alleging that Guida orchestrated a $12 million fraud at PictureTel by
   negotiating, approving and recording revenue from sales transactions
   for which the purported customers had no obligation to pay. The
   Complaint alleges that because of Guida's conduct, PictureTel
   materially overstated its revenues from the third quarter of 1996
   through the second quarter of 1997. Guida agreed, without admitting or
   denying the Commission's allegations, to pay a civil penalty of
   $50,000, to disgorge his 1996 annual bonus of $13,500 plus prejudgment
   interest, postjudgment interest of $894.59, and to the entry of a
   permanent injunction prohibiting him from further violations of the
   antifraud, public company reporting, record-keeping and internal
   controls provisions of the federal securities laws.

   According to the Commission's Complaint, Guida entered into a series
   of transactions involving undisclosed side agreements which provided
   that the customers had no firm commitment to pay. The Commission
   further alleged that after improperly causing PictureTel to recognize
   revenue from certain of these purported sales, Guida falsely told the
   company's auditors that the transactions would be paid. The Commission
   alleges that this statement was not true because the PictureTel
   customers had no obligation to pay unless the goods were sold through
   to end users or involved other significant contingencies. According to
   the Commission's Complaint, PictureTel materially overstated its
   revenues from the third quarter of 1996 through the second quarter of
   1997 by approximately $17.8 million, of which approximately $12
   million was attributable to Guida's conduct.

   The Commission's Complaint alleges that Guida violated the antifraud
   provisions of the federal securities laws, including Sections 10(b)
   and 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5,
   13b2-1, and 13b2-2 thereunder. In addition, the Complaint alleges that
   Guida aided and abetted PictureTel's violations of the public company
   reporting, record-keeping and internal controls provisions of the
   federal securities laws, including Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A) and
   13(b)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act and Rules 13a-1, 13a-13 and 12b-20
   thereunder.