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             U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 15255 / February 13, 1997

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. JOHN T. HALL, JOEL CINIERO
AND MARK KECKEISEN, 97 Civ. 0985 (WK)  S.D.N.Y. 
  

The former head of a joint venture once heralded as a source of
recovery for the victims of the Towers Financial Corporation was
charged today with defrauding the same victims.  John T. Hall was
the chairman and general partner of Qualis Care, L.P., a joint
venture in the healthcare receivables business to which Towers
contributed over $37 million in cash and other assets.  According
to the Commission, Hall and an associate, Joel Ciniero, engaged
in a complex scheme to obtain Towers assets, by assuming control
of and looting Qualis, while transferring to Qualis securities at
an inflated price and documenting phony investments.  The
Commission's complaint alleges that Hall's fraud was aided and
abetted by the third defendant, Mark Keckeisen.  All three
defendants have pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from
the Qualis fraud, and are awaiting sentencing.

     The Commission's complaint describes a complex securities
fraud that began soon after Towers filed for bankruptcy in March
1993.  Hall was the successful bidder in a court-ordered
bankruptcy auction in January 1994 for Towers' remaining
business.  Hall committed to contribute an additional $5 million
and valuable software to Qualis, which was to continue in the
healthcare-receivables finance business and generate income to
Towers' creditors, who became Qualis's limited partners. 
Instead, Hall and Ciniero deprived Qualis of $10 million on the
same day that the transaction closed, March 18, 1994, by causing
Qualis to pay $10 million to an individual who had made a one-day
$5 million loan to Hall and (as a quid pro quo for the loan) to
purchase for Qualis certain securities for $5 million, although
they were worth substantially less.  Having accomplished this
overnight looting, Hall continued to loot Qualis, transferring at
least $6 million of Qualis's funds to a nominee's bank account,
beyond Qualis's control.  As part of the scheme to defraud
prospective limited partners of Qualis, Hall produced a false and
misleading stock certificate, which was deposited in a Qualis
brokerage account.  With Keckeisen's assistance, Hall also
created a phony investment agreement, and bogus securities
account statements, which were delivered to Qualis.  Whereas
Qualis was funded with $27 million in cash, and accounts
receivable worth at least $13 million, for a total of $40 million
(plus the value of TIRC), Qualis had total assets of
approximately $14,726,154 as of March 31, 1996, according to
Qualis's recent bankruptcy filing, or less than half of Towers'
original investment in Qualis.  
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     The Commission charged Hall and Ciniero with violations of
Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated
thereunder.  The complaint seeks an injunction against future
violations of these antifraud fraud provisions with respect to
Hall and Ciniero, as well as disgorgement of ill-gotten gains,
prejudgment interest thereon, civil penalties, and an officer-
and-director bar.  Defendant Keckeisen was charged with aiding
and abetting Hall's violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5
thereunder; the Commission seeks a permanent injunction against
future violations of these provisions by Keckeisen.

     Without admitting or denying the allegations in the
Commission's complaint, Keckeisen has consented to the requested
injunctive relief.