United States Securities And Exchange Commission


          Litigation Release No.  16005  /  December 17, 1998

          SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. SCOTT ALEXANDER
          GRYSKIEWICZ, a/k/a SCOTT ALEXANDER and d/b/a PRIVATE AUTO
          PLACEMENT, and AMERICAN SECURITIES INC. 98 Civ. 7688
          (E.D.N.Y.)(NG)

                The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission")
          announced that it filed a complaint on December 15, 1998, in the
          United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
          charging an unregistered broker with fraudulently offering and
          selling unregistered securities. To stop the ongoing violations,
          the Commission applied for emergency relief, including a
          temporary restraining order against future violations, and an
          order freezing the assets of the defendant and a company that he
          controls that has been named as a relief defendant.  Without
          admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint: (1) the
          defendant consented to the entry of an order preliminarily
          enjoining the defendant from violating the antifraud and broker
          registration provisions; and (2) the defendant and the relief
          defendant consented to a temporary freeze of their assets, which
          will continue until such time as the Court schedules and holds a
          hearing in approximately 30 days to determine whether the asset
          freezes should remain in place throughout this action.

          Named in the Complaint as a defendant is:

               Scott Alexander Gryskiewicz, 27 years old, who resides in
               Nutley, New Jersey. Gryskiewicz also has the d.b.a. name of
               Private Auto Placement.

          Named in the Complaint as a relief defendant is:

               American Securities, Inc. ("American (NJ)"), a New Jersey
               corporation that was incorporated by Gryskiewicz on or about
               May 28, 1998.  American (NJ)'s principal office is in Lodi,
               New Jersey ("Lodi Office").  Gryskiewicz controls American
               (NJ).

          The Complaint alleges that:

               Since approximately May 1998, Gryskiewicz has been
               unlawfully acting as an unregistered broker, directly and
               through the Lodi Office.  Through boiler room sales
               practices, including cold-calling and false promises of
               quick profits, Gryskiewicz and others in the Lodi Office
               have raised more than $500,000 from approximately 71
               investors who purchased unregistered securities issued by
               Pan American Securities, Inc. ("Pan American").  Gryskiewicz
               and others under his supervision in the Lodi Office have
               defrauded Pan American investors by making one or more of
               the following materially false claims:  a) Pan American was
               about to make an initial public offering ("IPO");  b) the
               offered Pan American securities are freely tradable, when in
               fact they are restricted; and c) the offered Pan American
               securities could be sold for a substantial profit after the
               purported IPO.

               Gryskiewicz and others in the Lodi Office have recently
               embarked on another fraudulent offering of unregistered
               securities issued by a purported company named
               Freetrade.com, Inc. ("Freetrade").  Among other things,
               Gryskiewicz is disseminating a private placement memorandum
               ("Freetrade PPM") that falsely represents that the offered
               Freetrade securities are "immediately tradable," when in
               fact, they are restricted.

          By engaging in the foregoing conduct, Gryskiewicz allegedly has
          been violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and
          Sections 10(b), 15(a)(1) and 15(c)(1) of the Securities Exchange
          Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-3, 10b-5 and 15c1-2.  The Complaint
          seeks: (i) preliminary and permanent injunctions against
          Gryskiewicz; (ii) civil penalties against Gryskiewicz; (iii)
          disgorgement of ill-gotten gains by Gryskiewicz and American
          (NJ); (iv) asset freezes against Gryskiewicz and American (NJ);
          (v) accountings by both Gryskiewicz and American (NJ) to quantify
          ill-gotten gains received by each; and (vi) other equitable
          relief.

          The litigation is pending.