SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 16078 / March 5, 1999 ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING ENFORCEMENT RELEASE NO. 1115 / March 5, 1999 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. MARK T. FUKUHARA, ANDREW L. O’CONNELL, AND ROBERT J. ANSELMO, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Civil Action No. 97-1191-CIV-ORL-18A. LASER PHOTONICS' PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER ENJOINED AND BARRED; LASER PHOTONICS' VICE PRESIDENT ENJOINED AND PENALIZED The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Andrew L. O'Connell of Orlando, Florida, the former principal financial and accounting officer of Laser Photonics, Inc., has been enjoined and barred from appearing before the Commission for his role in the financial fraud uncovered at Laser Photonics. The Commission also announced that Robert J. Anselmo of Longwood, Florida, a former vice president of Laser Photonics, has been enjoined and penalized $17,500 for his role in the fraudulent scheme. Laser Photonics is an Orlando based manufacturer of medical and scientific lasers. On February 26, 1999, Judge Kendall G. Sharp of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, entered Final Judgments Of Permanent Injunction against Anselmo and O’Connell in the lawsuit filed against them by the Commission in 1997. The Final Judgments enjoin O’Connell and Anselmo from future violations of the anti- fraud and the books and records provisions of the federal securities laws. The Final Judgment against Anselmo also requires that he pay a civil penalty in the amount of $17,500. No civil penalty was imposed against O’Connell based upon his demonstrated financial inability to pay. O’Connell and Anselmo consented to the Final Judgments without admitting or denying the Commission’s allegations. O'Connell, a certified public accountant licensed to practice in Florida, also consented to the Commission's issuance of an Order under Rule 102(e) of the Commission's Rules of Practice which denies him the privilege of practicing before the Commission as an accountant. The Commission’s civil complaint alleged that O’Connell, Anselmo and Mark T. Fukuhara, Laser Photonics' former president, engaged in a scheme to defraud the company’s investors by materially inflating its publicly reported revenues and profits and by falsifying its books and records. O’Connell, Anselmo and Fukuhara ordered the booking of fictitious sales, failed to reduce recorded revenues for sales returns and billing errors, and prematurely recognized future revenues. The defendants hid the fraudulent scheme from the company's independent auditors by forging, altering and concealing corporate records, and by procuring false sales confirmations and other misleading statements from certain customers of the company in order to circumvent the auditors’ verification procedures. While the scheme lasted, Laser Photonics filed with the Commission its 1992 annual report on Form 10-K, two 1993 quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and a stock sale registration statement on Form S-1, all of which were materially false and misleading. The Final Judgments entered by Judge Sharp permanently enjoin O’Connell and Anselmo from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(b) and 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Commission Rules 10b-5, 13b2-1 and 13b2-2 promulgated thereunder, and further enjoin them from aiding and abetting violations of Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Commission Rules 12b-20, 13a-1 and 13a-13 promulgated thereunder. These settlements conclude the Commission's enforcement actions with respect to the fraudulent accounting scheme at Laser Photonics. Previously, former president Mark T. Fukuhara consented, without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission's complaint, to a permanent injunction from violations of the anti-fraud and the books and records provisions of the federal securities laws, to payment of a $40,000 civil penalty, and to an order barring him from acting as an officer or director of a public company for five years. [See Litigation Release No. 15715 and Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 1026 (April 22, 1998).] Laser Photonics, Inc. and John R. Alfson, the company's former director of manufacturing, previously consented to the issuance of Commission Orders ordering the company and Alfson to Cease and Desist from violations of the anti-fraud and the books and records provisions of the federal securities laws. [See Litigation Release No. 15518 and Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 973 (September 30, 1997).]