On April 28, 2004, the Honorable Harry Lee Hudspeth, Senior United States District Court Judge for the Western District of Texas, entered a Final Judgment against Dean S. Thomassen ("Thomassen") for violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. In its Complaint filed on May 14, 2003, the Commission alleged that for almost two years, from August 1998 to May 2000, Thomassen made repeated fraudulent misrepresentations on the Internet for the purpose of manipulating the stock price of at least nine microcap companies. According to the Complaint, Thomassen sent numerous fraudulent unsolicited "spam" e-mail messages touting the stock and business prospects of each of the companies. Using several aliases, the Complaint further alleged, Thomassen also posted false and misleading information about these microcap companies on the Silicon Investor and Raging Bull websites. The Complaint alleged that, after the dissemination of the false information, the stock price and trading volume of many of the issuers increased significantly in the short term. According to the Complaint, on three occasions, Thomassen quickly sold his personal stock holdings in these companies into the resulting inflated market. The Complaint alleged that through his trading in the issuers' stocks, Thomassen realized illegal profits of $8,302, which constituted a return on his original investment of between 32% to 132%, depending upon the particular stock.

Thomassen, without admitting or denying the allegations of the Commission's Complaint, consented to entry of the Final Judgment, which permanently enjoins him from violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and permanently bars him from any future participation in the offering of penny stocks, under Section 603 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The Final Judgment also orders disgorgement of $8,302, but waives such amount, and waives civil penalties and prejudgment interest based on Thomassen's sworn statement of financial condition. For additional information about this matter, see also Litigation Release 18137 (May 14, 2003).

For tips on how to avoid Internet "pump-and-dump" stock manipulation schemes, visit http://www.sec.gov/investor/online/pump.htm.

For more information about Internet fraud, visit http://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/internetenforce.htm.

To report suspicious activity involving possible Internet fraud, visit http://www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml.