UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Before the SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Release No. 38028 / December 9, 1996 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING File No. 3-9198 ------------------------------- : In the Matter of : ORDER INSTITUTING PUBLIC : ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS : PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 15(b) Steven A. Lapper : AND 19(h) OF THE SECURITIES : EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, MAKING : FINDINGS AND IMPOSING REMEDIAL : SANCTIONS : Respondent. : ------------------------------- I. The Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be instituted pursuant to Sections 15(b) and 19(h) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) against Steven A. Lapper (Lapper). In anticipation of the institution of these administrative proceedings, Lapper has submitted an Offer of Settlement (Offer) which the Commission has determined to accept. Solely for the purpose of this proceeding and any other proceeding brought by or on behalf of the Commission, or to which the Commission is a party, and without admitting or denying the Commission's findings, except as to jurisdiction and those findings contained in paragraph III.2. below, which are admitted, Lapper, by his Offer, consents to the entry of this Order Instituting Public Administrative Proceedings Pursuant To Sections 15(b) and 19(h) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings and Imposing Remedial Sanctions (Order). II. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that public administrative proceedings pursuant to Sections 15(b) and 19(h) of the Exchange Act be, and hereby are, instituted. III. On the basis of this Order and the Offer submitted by ==========================================START OF PAGE 2====== Lapper, the Commission finds that: 1. Steven A. Lapper (Lapper), a resident of Chicago, Illinois, has been registered with the Commission as a sole proprietor broker-dealer since 1983. 2. On June 1, 1995, Lapper pled guilty to one count of filing a false tax return in violation of 26 U.S.C. 7206(1). Lapper's plea stemmed from an April 1995 Second Superseding Indictment filed by a federal grand jury for the Northern District of Illinois against Lapper for mail fraud and filing false tax returns. The indictment alleges that in 1989, Lapper participated in a scheme to defraud an insurance company by permitting his car to be stolen, then falsely filing a theft claim with his insurance company. The indictment further alleges that Lapper received a payment from the insurance company for his claim on the loss of his car but failed to report the reportable income from the insurance proceeds on his 1989 tax return, thereby knowingly, and under penalty of perjury, filing a false 1989 Form 1040 with the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS). On December 14, 1995, a judgement of conviction on Lapper's guilty plea was entered, and he was sentenced to three years probation, including six months of electronically monitored home confinement, excluding work hours. Also on December 14, 1995, the remaining counts of the indictment, including mail fraud, were dismissed. IV. In view of the foregoing, it is in the public interest to impose the sanctions specified in the Offer. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT: 1. Lapper's registration as a broker-dealer be revoked; and 2. Lapper be barred from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, investment company or municipal securities dealer, with the right to reapply for such association after two and one half years from the date of the Commission's Order. Such an application shall be made to the appropriate self- regulatory organization, or if there is none, to the Commission. By the Commission. Jonathan G. Katz ==========================================START OF PAGE 3====== Secretary