==========================================START OF PAGE 1====== U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 15233 \ January 30, 1997 SEC v. RICHARD P. BROWN, (D.D.C., Civil Action No. 97-196-JHG, filed January 28, 1997) The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on January 28, 1997, a civil action was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against Richard P. Brown of N. Rockville, Maryland. The Complaint seeks an order requiring Brown to comply with the Commission's administrative order (Commission Order) entered in In the Matter of F.N. Wolf & Co., et al., A.P. File No. 3-8533 (Administrative Proceeding), which, among other things, imposed a $100,000 civil penalty against him and barred him from the securities industry. The Complaint alleges that Brown has failed to pay $95,000 of the $100,000 penalty. The Commission seeks an order requiring Brown to pay $95,000, plus prejudgment interest, within 30 days of the entry of the Court's order. Brown was the president and 100% owner of Hibbard Brown & Co., Inc. (Hibbard), a broker-dealer which was registered with the Commission. Brown and Hibbard were charged in the Administrative Proceeding with having fraudulently manipulated the price of Of Counsel Enterprises, Inc.'s securities. The Commission Order contained findings that: between November 16, 1993, when Of Counsel's initial public offering of securities became effective, and December 8, 1993, Hibbard and others purchased approximately 95.7% of the public float of the Of Counsel securities and manipulated their price from $3.25 to $8; after manipulating the price of the Of Counsel securities, Hibbard and others sold those securities to the investing public at the artificially inflated prices; Hibbard profited by approximately $3 million; and Brown, as president of Hibbard, personally directed Hibbard's violative conduct. The Commission Order also contained findings that, as a result of the above- described conduct, Brown and Hibbard willfully violated the antifraud and other provisions of the federal securities laws.