SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Release No. 43360 / September 27, 2000

ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING ENFORCEMENT
Release No. 1316 / September 27, 2000

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING
File No. 3-10314

COMMISSION INSTITUTES ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING AGAINST COUNTRYLAND WELLNESS RESORTS, INC. SEEKING TO REVOKE REGISTRATION OF ITS COMMON STOCK

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") announced today the institution of an administrative proceeding against Countryland Wellness Resorts, Inc. ("Countryland") seeking to revoke registration of Countryland's common stock. The Order Instituting Proceeding alleges that Countryland failed to comply with the federal securities laws by falsely reporting assets in periodic filings and a registration statement made with the Commission from February 1997 to the present.

Countryland Wellness Resorts, Inc., is a Delaware corporation. Countryland maintains its offices in Las Vegas, Nevada. Countryland claims to be in the mining and electrical contracting business and purports to plan to operate a longevity center at a wellness resort and casino in Las Vegas. Countryland stock is not listed on any national securities exchange.

The Division of Enforcement alleges that Countryland lied to investors about the following assets reported in various annual reports (Form 10-K) and quarterly reports (Form 10-Q) and in a registration statement:

  • gold stored in a warehouse reported in ranges from $19.5 million to over $27.3 million in annual and quarterly reports filed in 1996 through 1999; the purported gold was in fact dirt. This material, which contained only 0.151 ounces of gold per ton, represented as much as 89% of Countryland's total assets in 1996 and 1997.

  • proven mining reserves reported in ranges from $1.2 billion to $2.1 billion; in fact, Countryland lacked sufficient information to evidence the proven reserves. Countryland also needed extensive work performed to determine the amount and value of recoverable minerals. Despite this lack of information, Countryland reported the proved mining reserves in 1997 through 2000 with this asset representing as much as 98% of the total reported assets in 1997.

  • Indonesian bank guarantees reported in ranges from $400 million to $1.1 billion; in fact, the bank guarantees did not exist although they represented between 37-45% of Countryland's reported assets in 1998 and 1999.

A public hearing will be held to determine whether the allegations included in the Order Instituting Proceeding are true, to offer Countryland an opportunity to establish any defenses to the allegations, and to determine what sanctions, if any, are appropriate.

In a related but separate enforcement action, on September 27, 2000, the Commission filed a civil complaint against Countryland and others in federal district court in Nevada. Simultaneous with the filing of the Commission's complaint, Countryland consented to the issuance of a permanent injunction, without admitting or denying the allegations contained in the Commission's complaint. See Litigation Release No. 16732 (Sept. 27, 2000).