U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 19563 / February 13, 2006

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ronald J. Bauer, Civil Action No. 3:05-CV-0426-H, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division

SEC Announces Entry of Agreed Final Judgment Against Ronald J. Bauer in Connection with International Market-Manipulation Scheme

On February 10, 2006, the Honorable Barefoot Sanders of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered an Agreed Final Judgment against Defendant Ronald J. Bauer in the referenced civil enforcement action. The Judgment results from the Commission's March 2, 2005 securities fraud charges against then-30-year-old Bauer, the alleged architect of an international pump-and-dump scheme. According to the Commission's Complaint, from November 2002 through January 2003, Bauer pumped the stock of The Bauer Partnership Inc. (the "Bauer Partnership") by issuing false and misleading press releases, while secretly dumping tens of millions of Bauer Partnership shares into the inflated market that he had created.

Without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission's Complaint, Bauer consented to entry of the Judgment providing full injunctive relief as to violations of the charged provisions of the federal securities laws. Specifically, the Judgment enjoins Bauer from violating the registration provisions (Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act")); the antifraud provisions (Securities Act Section 17(a) and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder); the beneficial-ownership and insider-disclosure provisions (Sections 13(d) and 16(a) of the Exchange Act and Rules 13d-1 and 16a-3 thereunder); and aiding and abetting violations of the reporting provisions (Exchange Act Section 13(a) and Rules 13a-11, 13a-13 and 12b-20 thereunder). The Judgment also prohibits Bauer from serving as an officer or director of a public company or participating in an offering of penny stock for a period of five years. Finally, the Judgment orders Bauer to pay disgorgement of $840,000, plus post-judgment interest.

For further information about the Commission's action against Bauer, see Litigation Release No. 19153 (March 23, 2005).

The Commission gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Panamanian securities regulators (Comisi³n Nacional de Valores, Repºblica de Panam¡), the British Columbia Securities Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.