UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


          Litigation Release No.  16153 / May 19, 1999

          SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION  v. MARSHALL NEIL CRAIG
          RONALD, RUDOLF ALEXANDER VICTOR LINSCHOTEN A/K/A RUDOLF VAN LIN
          OR DR. RUDOLF VAN LIN, AND FRIEDA G. FREITAS, Civil Action No.
          98-866 AHS (EEx) (C.D. Cal.).

               The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that
          the United States District Court for the Central District of
          California entered a Final Judgment of Permanent Injunction and
          Other Relief ("Final Judgment") against Frieda G. Freitas
          ("Freitas") on April 26, 1999, for her involvement in an illegal
          "prime bank" scheme.  The Final Judgment, entered pursuant to
          Freitas’ consent, requires her to pay $15,000 in disgorgement,
          plus prejudgment interest.  She is also enjoined from violating
          the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the federal
          securities laws, namely Sections 5(a), 5(c) and 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 Commission’s lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles on
          September 16, 1998, and named Freitas and two other defendants,
          Marshall Neil Craig Ronald ("Ronald") and Rudolf Alexander Victor
          Linschoten ("Linschoten").  On May 10, 1999, the Court entered
          default judgments against Ronald and Linschoten and ordered them
          to pay almost $6 million in disgorgement, plus prejudgment
          interest.  From December 1996 through October 1997, the
          defendants raised over $6 million from approximately 170
          investors who believed they were investing in a "bank trading"
          program.  The Commission’s complaint alleged that the defendants
          told investors that their funds would be used for a secret "bank
          trading" program and guaranteed a 100% return within 90 "banking
          days" in a "risk free" investment.  In fact, there  was no bank
          trading program; Ronald used investor funds to purchase cars,
          guns, residential property, and to pay credit card and hotel
          bills.  Investor funds were also transferred to Linschoten’s
          Swiss bank account.  Freitas was the administrative coordinator
          and point of contact for the "bank trading" program.

               These type of frauds are commonly referred to as "prime
          bank" schemes and have been the subject of repeated warnings by
          several federal agencies, including the Commission, the Board of
          Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit
          Insurance Corporation, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency,
          the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union
          Administration.










               Freitas resides in Hawaii. The investors reside in various
          states including California, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Washington,
          Oregon, Hawaii, New York and New Jersey.