**Release:#3877-95 (Civ 95-6970)**

**For Release:November 3, 1995**

**FLORIDA COURT ISSUES PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION IN CFTC ANTI-FRAUD    ENFORCEMENT ACTION AGAINST RICHARD E. MASERI, RONALD B. ROMBERG, AIM    INTERNATIONAL, BULLSEYE INTERNATIONAL, & PRIVATE RESEARCH,    INC.**

**Injunction Continues Previously Entered Ex Parte Asset Freeze    Order Against the Defendants, Who Allegedly Defrauded Commodity Futures    Investors of Over $350,000**

WASHINGTON -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced    today that the Honorable Edward B. Davis of the U.S. District Court for the    Southern District of Florida entered orders of preliminary injunction    against **Richard E. Maseri** of Aventura, Florida; **Ronald Bruce    Romberg** of Lighthouse Point, Florida; and **Private Research,    Inc.**, **AIM International, Inc.**, and **Bullseye, Inc.** -- all    Florida corporations operated and controlled by Maseri and/or Romberg.

The court's action stems from a six-count injunctive complaint filed on    October 16, 1995, alleging that since January 1993 the defendants cheated    and defrauded customers throughout the United States by soliciting and    receiving funds for the purchase of computer- generated commodity futures    trading systems and soliciting approximately $350,000 to trade commodity    futures contracts. The CFTC complaint also charges the defendants with    acting as a commodity trading advisor, a commodity pool operator, and a    futures commission merchants without being so registered with the CFTC.

Specifically, the complaint charges Maseri, Romberg, AIM, and Bullseye    with, among other things, cheating and defrauding customers by    misrepresenting to customers:

--

that AIM was trading an account in its own name using the CAT-FX trading    system developed by Maseri, which was purported to be a computer-assisted    commodity futures trading program, and that the AIM account was generating    profits of between 5 percent and 15 percent per week;

--

that, for 23 weeks from September 1994, the AIM in-house account had    traded using the CAT-FX trading system and had not, at any time, lost    money; and

--

that the CAT-FX trading system was designed so that gains would    outnumber losses by 55 percent to 60 percent, and that Maseri had    completely tested the system and had made as much money as he wanted to,    before making the system available to the public in late 1994.

The complaint alleges that, in fact, AIM never had any trading account,    no actual profits were ever made by AIM or Romberg in any real trading    account, and the representations made concerning the purported success of    the CAT-FX system was exclusively based upon hypothetical trading.

--

MORE --

-

2 -

The complaint also charges Maseri and Private Research with converting    customer funds to their own use, and with cheating and defrauding customers    by:

--

misrepresenting that everyone who had ever invested with Maseri had    "always made money" as a result of Maseri's trading"; and

--

misrepresenting that Maseri was a licensed commodity pool operator and    commodity trading advisor.

AIM markets the CAT-FX trading system in national newspaper    advertisements, including the business opportunity sections of the *Wall    Street Journal* and *USA Today*. Maseri has also made claims about    his CAT-FX system on the "Money Talk Bulletin Board" of *Prodigy*, an    on-line computer service that reaches millions of persons, according to the    complaint. The complaint also alleges that the defendants offered at least    three different CAT-FX trading products: the purchase of the CAT-FX program    for fees up to $19,000; a license to operate a franchise or an AIM    affiliate office for a $50,000 fee; and interests in a purported commodity    pool named **Bullseye Fund**, which was represented to be trading    according to the CAT-FX system.

**Injunctions Enjoin Defendants from Further Violating Federal    Commodity Law**

On the same day the complaint was filed, Judge Davis issued an *ex    parte* order freezing all of the defendants' assets, preserving their    books and records, and appointing a receiver.

The preliminary injunctions, entered on October 23 and 25, 1995, among    other things, enjoin the defendants from further violations of Federal    commodity law, including the anti-fraud, registration, and disclosure    provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act. Maseri and Private Research were    also enjoined from violating the Act's prohibitions against embezzlement    and/or conversion, and acting as a futures commission merchant without    being registered.

Judge Davis further ordered that the **ex parte** order of October 16    remain in effect, except that the temporary receiver's appointment was    terminated, and Magistrate Judge Garber was appointed to take into his    custody and control the assets of the corporate defendants and to remove    Maseri and Romberg from control of those corporations. Moreover, the CFTC    was directed to take possession of all of the defendants' records relating    to the activities alleged in the CFTC complaint. Finally, the defendants    were required to provide a summary accounting of their assets and provide    CFTC representatives with access to the defendants' books and records.

**CFTC's Continuing Litigation Seeks Fines, Disgorgement, and    Restitution,**

**Among other Sanctions**

In its continuing litigation against the defendants, the CFTC is seeking    an order of permanent injunction, civil monetary penalties (an amount of    not more than the higher of $100,000 or triple the monetary gain to the    defendants for each violation of the Act or CFTC regulations), rescission    of all violative transactions, disgorgement, and restitution.

----