Securities and Exchange Commission

Litigation Release No. 17969 / February 5, 2003

SEC Charges Broker Todd Eberhard, and His Firms, With Securities Fraud and
Looting of Customer Brokerage Accounts

(S.D.N.Y. Civ. 03 CV 813 (RJB))

   The Commission announced today that it filed an emergency action this
   morning charging securities fraud, including looting of customer
   brokerage accounts, against broker and television investment
   personality Todd M. Eberhard and his brokerage and investment advisory
   firms, Park South Securities, LLC ("Park South"), a registered
   broker-dealer and registered investment adviser, and Eberhard
   Investment Associates, Inc. ("EIA"), an investment adviser that was
   not registered with the Commission. The complaint also names Stone
   House Capital Partners LP ("Stone House"), a Park South affiliated
   hedge fund, as a relief defendant that received transfers of Park
   South customer funds at Eberhard's direction.

   The complaint alleges that Eberhard and his companies systematically
   concealed substantial losses in customer accounts by, among other
   things, issuing phony customer account statements and making other
   material misrepresentations about the value of the accounts. The
   defendants also misappropriated customer funds by moving assets back
   and forth between the accounts of unrelated customers without
   knowledge or authority of the customers, and by making unauthorized
   wire transfers out of customer accounts - essentially looting the
   accounts. The fraud was ongoing defendants continued to misrepresent
   the value of customer account balances as recently as last week.

   Upon the Commission's application, the United States District Court
   for the Southern District of New York today entered a temporary
   restraining order and an order freezing the assets of Eberhard and his
   entities as well as assets of Stone House that are traceable to
   Eberhard's customers. The Court also appointed a receiver for Park
   South and EIA and ordered an immediate verified accounting from all
   defendants and expedited discovery. The litigation is pending.

   The Commission would like to thank the United States Attorney's Office
   for the Southern District of New York for its assistance and
   cooperation in this matter.

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Modified 02/05/2003