Release: 4103-98 (Civ-97-C7061)

For Release: February 9, 1998

CFTC FILES AMENDED COMPLAINT IN CFTC v. FTI
    FINANCIAL GROUP CHARGING FOUR ADDITIONAL DEFENDANTS IN OHIO WITH FRAUD,
    AMONG OTHER VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL COMMODITY LAW

WASHINGTON -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced
    today the filing of an amended complaint naming James R. Crawford
    and Randall Williams, both of Toledo, Ohio, and Terry G.
    Wigton of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and Anthony L. Holt of
    Blountville, Tennessee, as additional defendants in a civil anti-fraud
    action pending before U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber in Chicago,
    Illinois.

The pending action initially charged FTI Financial Group, Samuel H. Foreman, Mark G. Stevens and Carolyn F. Munn
    with violating the antifraud and other provisions of the Commodity Exchange
    Act (CEA) (see CFTC News Release 4063-97, October 10, 1997).

The CFTC's amended complaint filed on January 28, 1998, alleges that
    Crawford, Williams, Wigton and Holt defrauded commodity pool investors by
    misrepresenting the risk of trading futures, failing to disclose trading
    losses, and issuing false reports, among other things, in violation of the
    anti-fraud provisions of the CEA. The amended complaint further alleges
    that the defendants acted as commodity pool operators or commodity trading
    advisors, or solicited investors for commodity pools and discretionary
    accounts, without registering with the CFTC as required by the CEA, and
    that Holt filed a false statement with the CFTC claiming that he was exempt
    from registration.

According to the CFTC's amended complaint, Crawford, Wigton, Williams,
    and Holt solicited general partners and investors to form commodity pools
    in Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia under a "multi-level" compensation plan.
    The amended complaint alleges that Crawford, Wigton, and Williams
    misrepresented the risks of commodity interest trading intending that the
    general partners of the commodity pools, including Holt, Foreman, Stevens
    and Munn, would repeat the misrepresentations to pool investors. However,
    Holt and the FTI general partners themselves allegedly defrauded investors
    by, among other things, failing to disclose unrealized trading losses in
    the pools that they operated. The amended complaint also alleges that Holt
    fraudulently solicited investors to move their investments from the
    commodity pools to bank debentures.

The CFTC's action amended a complaint initially filed on October 9,
    1997, alleging, among other things, that FTI Financial Group (of Toledo,
    Ohio), an Ohio general partnership, and its three general partners, Foreman
    (of Maumee, Ohio), Stevens (of Grand Rapids, Ohio), and Munn (of Swanton,
    Ohio) -- none of whom has ever been registered with the CFTC -- defrauded
    commodity pool investors by misrepresenting risk, failing to disclose
    losses, misappropriating investors' money and issuing false reports, in
    violation of the CEA.

The court entered a consent preliminary injunction on October 9, 1997,
    which froze the assets of FTI, Foreman, Stevens, and Munn, required them to
    distribute more than $271,400 to investors immediately, and barred them
    from the futures industry until further order of the court. FTI and its
    general partners agreed to the court order without admitting or denying the
    allegations. The initial complaint alleged that Crawford and Williams
    solicited the FTI general partners to form three pools and directed the
    trading for the pools.

Altogether, as a result of the alleged activities of all the defendants,
    at least 70 investors invested more than $2 million in eleven commodity
    pools.

The amended complaint seeks a permanent injunction, restitution,
    disgorgement, civil monetary penalties and other equitable relief against
    each of the defendants.