SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 17643 / July 31, 2002

SEC OBTAINS EMERGENCY ORDER HALTING ONGOING FRAUD BY BROKER-DEALER AND
AFFILIATES

SEC v. PLATINUM INVESTMENT CORPORATION, et al. (S.D.N.Y. 02 Civ. 6093 (JSR))

   The Commission today brought an emergency action in federal court in
   Manhattan to halt an ongoing fraud by Platinum Investment Corp.
   ("Platinum"), a registered broker-dealer; Platinum Investment Holding
   Corp. ("PIHC"), a supposed "financial service holding corporation";
   Lee Antonucci ("L.Antonuuci"), a PIHC principal; and Platinum
   associates Andrew Antonucci ("A. Antonucci"), Marcos Martinez
   ("Martinez"), James Frace ("Frace"), and Mathew Beaulieu ("Beaulieu").
   The Commission alleges that, to date, defendants have fraudulently
   obtained over $1.5 million from at least 56 investors through two
   schemes (a) an offering of stock in PIHC for $1.00 per share, and (b)
   an offering in New Focus Capital Partners ("New Focus"), a purported
   hedge fund. The complaint alleges that defendants have misled
   investors through a host of patently false misrepresentations about
   PIHC and New Focus - including the demonstrably false
   misrepresentation that PIHC is close to conducting an initial public
   offering ("IPO").

   The Commission has moved for a preliminary injunction and other
   interim relief to preserve the status quo. Pending the outcome of that
   motion, on the Commission's application, the court has temporarily
   restrained the defendants from violating antifraud, registration, and
   books and records provisions of the Securities Act of 1933
   ("Securities Act") and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange
   Act"); frozen defendants' assets; ordered the defendants to submit
   accountings; ordered expedited discovery; and prohibited defendants
   from destroying documents and other evidence.

   The Commission alleges that the defendants have deceived actual and
   prospective investors by claiming that PIHC is on the verge of
   launching an IPO within weeks or days. According to the complaint,
   PIHC has not filed any registration statement with the Commission or
   otherwise taken any steps toward an IPO. The Commission also alleges
   that the defendants have made baseless projections about the price at
   which PIHC stock would trade on the secondary market; have
   misrepresented the identity of PIHC's officers; diverted investor
   proceeds; falsely claimed that PIHC owns a successful, proprietary
   "momentum" trading program called IntelliTrendXLTM; and falsely
   portrayed New Focus as a hedge fund with a successful track record.