UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

     LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 15511 / September 26, 1997

     SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. JOHN GARDNER BLACK, DEVON CAPITAL
     MANAGEMENT, INC., AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SCIENCES, INC. (United States
     District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Civil Action No.
     97-CV-265J)

          The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") announced that,
     on September 26, 1997, the Honorable William L. Standish of the U.S.
     District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania issued a temporary
     restraining order against John Gardner Black ("Black"), Devon Capital
     Management, Inc. ("Devon"), and Financial Management Sciences, Inc.
     ("FMS").  Among other things, the Order freezes the defendants' assets and
     appoints as Trustee over those assets Dick Thornburgh, formerly Attorney
     General of the United States, United States Attorney for the Western
     District of Pennsylvania and Governor of Pennsylvania.  

          The complaint alleges an on-going fraudulent scheme perpetrated by
     Black through Devon, a Pennsylvania-based registered investment adviser,
     and FMS, an affiliate of Devon's.  Both Devon and FMS are wholly owned and
     controlled by Black.  The complaint alleges that the scheme has resulted in
     the loss of millions of dollars of municipal bond proceeds invested by
     school districts throughout western and central Pennsylvania.

          Devon manages approximately $345 million in assets for approximately
     100 investment advisory clients, the vast majority of which are local
     school districts seeking to invest the proceeds of municipal bond
     offerings.  Devon has invested approximately $233 million of these funds,
     on behalf of 75 local school districts, in a form of investment called a
     Collateralized Investment Agreement ("CIA").  In promotional materials,
     Devon represented to these school districts that the CIA is an investment
     which pays a specified rate of return over a fixed period and which is
     fully protected by a pool of securities equalling the amount of the school
     districts' total principal investment.  The complaint alleges that, in
     fact, the school districts that have invested in the CIA program have
     suffered a combined loss of their principal investment of approximately $71
     million.    

          The complaint alleges that, in an effort to conceal this loss of
     principal from the school districts that have invested in the CIA program,
     Devon and Black have misrepresented to them the value of the assets held as
     collateral, overstating the actual value of those assets by approximately
     $71 million.  The complaint further alleges that Black has continued to
     accept new clients for investment into the CIA program without disclosing
     to these new clients that, as a result of the shortfall in the funds
     already under management, any funds that new clients invest into the CIA
     program are immediately diluted.  The complaint alleges that Devon must
     continue to attract new funds for investment in the program in order to
     fulfill its entire obligations to current advisory clients in the CIA
     program.

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          Finally, the complaint alleges that Black, Devon and FMS have
     benefitted financially from this fraudulent scheme.  Specifically, from
     January 1996 through August 1997, at least $2 million of school district
     funds were used to pay for the defendants' personal and business expenses.

          The complaint alleges that Devon, FMS and Black violated the antifraud
     provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b)
     of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.  The
     complaint further alleges that Devon, aided and abetted by Black, violated
     the antifraud and custody provisions in Sections 206(1), (2) and (4) of the
     Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 206(4)-2(a) thereunder.

          Any concerned investors, including superintendents or financial
     managers of school districts and representatives of school district
     authorities who issued bonds may contact the Trustee at 1-888-251-7715.






































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