SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. JOHN A. FURUTANI, Civil Action No. CV 04-1775-LGB (PLAx) (C.D. Cal.)

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted its application for enforcement of an investigative subpoena issued to John A. Furutani, an attorney at the law offices of Furutani & Peters, LLP in Pasadena, California. The Court ordered Furutani to produce documents on April 26, 2004 and to provide sworn testimony on May 3, 2004. At the hearing on the Commission's application, the Court found, among other things, that Furutani failed to demonstrate that the attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product doctrine, and state and federal rights to privacy protected the documents and testimony sought by the Commission.

The Commission filed its subpoena enforcement application on March 16, 2004. The investigative subpoena sought documents and testimony regarding, among other things, whether Furutani sold Hartcourt securities while in possession of material nonpublic information. Furutani represents The Hartcourt Companies, Inc., a Utah corporation headquartered in Pasadena, California, which company was sued by the Commission in 2003. SEC v. The Hartcourt Companies, Inc., Civil Action No. 03-3698-LGB (PLAx) (C.D. Cal.). The Commission alleges that Furutani sold at least 40,000 shares of Hartcourt common stock between May 8, 2003, when the Commission staff informed him of their intention to file a complaint against Hartcourt, and May 27, 2003, when the complaint was actually filed.

For additional information about this matter, see Litigation Release Number 18626 (Mar. 17, 2004).