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U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 14789 / January 22, 1996
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. CITI FINANCIAL SERVICES,
CITI CORP REALTY PARTNERS IV, HAROLD GOLDSTEIN, RICHARD THOMAS
MANDELL, a.k.a. MARK MORGENLENDER, ROBERT SINGLETON, MARK
BARQUERA, a.k.a. MARK CABRERRO and ROBERTA CRAMPTON, Civil Action
No. 96-0349 WJR (BQRx) (C.D. Cal.)
The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission")
announced that on January 18, 1996, it filed an emergency lawsuit
halting the defendants' sale of fictitious certificates of
deposit which they falsely claimed were issued by Citibank in New
York and insured by the federal government. The scheme, directed
by an inmate from federal prison and executed by several paroled
felons living in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, consisted of a
nationwide newspaper and direct marketing campaign aimed at
luring elderly investors into purchasing the bogus securities.
Since the scheme began in October 1995, the defendants have
defrauded individual investors out of approximately $320,000. In
addition, the Commission has learned that in response to the
defendants' marketing efforts, hundreds of potential victims have
expressed an interest in purchasing the fictitious securities.
By instituting this emergency legal proceeding, the Commission
has effectively shut down the illegal enterprise shortly after it
began and before a significantly greater number of investors were
defrauded.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States
District Court for the Central District of California, the
Commission obtained an order temporarily enjoining the following
entities and individuals from future violations of the antifraud
provisions of the federal securities laws: Citi Financial
Services ("Citi Financial"); Citi Corp Realty Partners IV
("CCRP"); Harold Goldstein ("Goldstein"), an inmate at the
federal correctional facility in Lompoc, California; Richard
Thomas Mandell ("Mandell"), of Los Angeles, who is currently on
federal parole; Robert Singleton ("Singleton"), of Salt Lake
City, Utah, who is also currently on federal parole; Mark
Barquera of Los Angeles, a convicted felon; and Roberta Crampton
of Silver Spring, Maryland. The order also imposes an asset
freeze against defendants Citi Financial, CCRP, Goldstein,
SNIPPETS:
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. CITI FINANCIAL SERVICES,
CITI CORP REALTY PARTNERS IV, HAROLD GOLDSTEIN, RICHARD THOMAS
MANDELL, a.k.a. MARK MORGENLENDER, ROBERT SINGLETON, MARK BARQUERA, a.k.a. MARK CABRERRO and
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on January 18, 1996, it filed an
The scheme, directed by an inmate from federal prison and executed by several paroled felons
In addition, the Commission has learned that in response to the defendants' marketing
By instituting this emergency legal proceeding, the Commission has effectively shut down the
In the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District
; Harold Goldstein, an inmate at the federal correctional facility in Lompoc, California;
In its Complaint, the Commission alleges that inmate Goldstein initiated the scheme by
The names of these entities were purposely designed to mislead investors into believing that
Goldstein further instructed Mandell to assume the identity of "Mark Morgenlender," an actual
The solicitation materials also falsely represented that Citi Financial and CCRP were
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