SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION



           LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 15892 / September 21, 1998

          SEC Files Emergency Action and Freezes Assets in $19 million

          Prime Bank Ponzi Scheme

          SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. TERRY V. KOONTZ, ZONE
          PRODUCTIONS, INC., JEFFREY A. DeVILLE, MYKAEL DeVILLE, PRIVATE
          POOL, LLC, RICHARD FULCHER, THOMAS DOLAN, LAWRENCE E. SEPPANEN,
          WALTER LAPP and KURT FOX and as Relief Defendants JEFFREY A.
          DeVILLE, as Acting Trustee for PURR TRUST, MARILYN KOONTZ,
          DOROTHY M. GERODEMOS, NANCY CHAMICH, STEWART A. KORAL, and EMANON
          II, INC. (United States District Court for the District of
          Massachusetts, C.A. No. 98 CV 11904-NG)

          The Commission announced that a seal has been lifted on an
          emergency action freezing the assets of ten defendants who were
          participating in a massive prime bank Ponzi scheme in which more
          than $19 million was raised from more than 80 investors in 16
          states.  The records had been previously sealed until all known
          bank accounts were frozen.  The Commission alleged that beginning
          in August 1997, three Tampa-area defendants, Terry Koontz
          ("Koontz"), Jeffrey DeVille (J. DeVille") and Mykael DeVille (M.
          DeVille"), recruited and used a network of salesmen on the East
          Coast to sell interests in  an "international bank debenture
          trading program" named Private Pool. LLC.    

          Using false information and offering materials provided by defendants 
          Koontz, J. DeVille and M. DeVille, sales agents, including defendants
          Richard J. Fulcher, Thomas Dolan, Lawrence E. Seppanen, Walter Lapp, 
          and Kurt Fox, residents of Florida, Virginia, New York and New Jersey, 
          falsely informed investors that their funds would be invested in a 
          40-week bank debenture trading program through Koontz, an international 
          bond trader affiliated with Barclays Bank .  The defendants falsely 
          promised investors that investments in the trading program would provide 
          a 1% weekly return and would be secured by Government National Mortgage
          Association  or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation bonds. The bank 
          debenture trading program does not exist, and Koontz is not affiliated 
          with Barclays. To support these misrepresentations, the defendants 
          distributed fraudulent documents bearing forged signatures of Barclays 
          officials as well as counterfeit stamps of Barclays and the State of 
          New York to convince people that their investments were effectively secured
          by the bonds.

          The Complaint alleges that investor funds are being deposited
          into a bank account in the name of Zone Productions, which is
          controlled by Koontz .  Koontz dissipated at least $9.9 million
          from the Zone account.  Among other things, he spent $468,000 on
          automobiles; over $250,000 on jewelry; and $650,000 on real
          estate. Koontz made gratuitous transfers of over $500,000 to his
          wife, relief defendant Marilyn Koontz, $3.1 million to relief
          defendant Dorothy Gerodemos, $481,000 to relief defendant Nancy
          Chamich,  $1.9 million to relief defendant Emanon II, Inc.  and
          $727,000 to relief defendant Stewart Koral. The Complaint alleges
          that the Devilles also used investor funds for their own personal
          use, buying a Cadillac, 2  BMWs, and  jewelry.  The DeVilles also
          transferred $300,000 to an off-shore account.


          The Commission obtained an order temporarily restraining the
          fraudulent activities, freezing assets, prohibiting the
          acceptance of additional investor funds,  requiring repatriation
          of funds transferred abroad and other relief in a complaint filed
          on September 17, 1998 in the United States District Court for the
          District of Massachusetts.

          This matter is a related case to another emergency fraudulent
          offering action,  SEC v. Michael D. Richmond, et al., Civ. Action
          No. 98-11378 (NG) ("Richmond"), filed with this Court on July 15,
          1998, in which Koontz, Zone Productions and Purr Trust are also
          are defendants.  The case is related  because the main defendant
          in the Richmond case transferred to Koontz and Zone over $6
          million of proceeds he  had raised by selling fictitious
          certificates of deposit   (See Litigation Release No. 15813).