Release: 3899-96 (94-661-Civ. ORL-18)

For Release: April 3, 1996

FLORIDA COURT ISSUES PERMANENT INJUNCTION AGAINST KEITH DOMINICK AND
    MAIN STREET INVESTMENT GROUP IN 1994 CFTC ANTI-FRAUD ACTION

Dominick Agrees to Pay Restitution to Defrauded Customers and

to be Barred Permanently from the Futures Industry, Among Other
    Sanctions

WASHINGTON -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced
    today that U.S. District Court Judge G. Kendall Sharp entered a consent
    order of permanent injunction against Keith Dominick -- individually
    and d/b/a Keith Dominick Investor Group and Dominion
    Investments -- and Main Street Investment Group, Inc. (Main
    Street), a Florida corporation, both of Kissimmee, Florida. The order,
    entered on March 30, 1996, requires Dominick to pay restitution in the
    amount of $4,528,237 and bars him from the futures industry, among other
    sanctions. Neither of these defendants has ever been registered with the
    CFTC in any capacity.

The court's action, filed on April 1, 1996, stems from an original
    eight-count civil anti-fraud action that was filed in June 1994 against
    Keith Dominick and Main Street (see CFTC News Release 3770-94, June 17,
    1994 ) alleging that they defrauded commodity pool investors in a manner
    akin to a Ponzi scheme. The complaint alleged that the defendants violated
    the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations by, among other
    things, committing fraud by making misrepresentations, misappropriating
    investor funds, and providing false statements to investors; acting as
    commodity pool operators without being registered; converting customer
    funds to their own use; and commingling the property of a commodity pool
    with the property of others. Since 1992, Dominick and Main Street solicited
    and received more than $5.9 million from at least 70 pool participants in
    Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, and South Carolina, the CFTC
    charged. On the same day the complaint was filed, the Court entered an ex parte restraining order against Keith Dominick and Main Street
    freezing their assets. Approximately $150,000 of the funds were frozen.

Complaint Was Amended, Adding Two Other Individual Defendants

On July 11, 1995, the CFTC filed an amended 14-count complaint to the
    original complaint, adding Rev. Gary A. Smith, pastor of the
    Heartland Worship Center, Inc. and Jay Blevins, president of the
    Jeff Blevins Memorial Childrens Fund, both not-for-profit corporations
    located in Kissimmee, Florida (see CFTC News Release 3857-95, July 11,
    1995). The amended complaint repeats the charges in the original complaint,
    and further charges that Rev. Smith and Blevins solicited investors for
    Dominick and Main Street and that, in their solicitations, Smith and
    Blevins made fraudulent misrepresentations to investors (including
    guaranteeing profits of up to 100 percent and representing that the
    operation could not lose money) and failed to disclose to investors that
    Dominick was paying them a commission. Rev. Smith allegedly solicited over
    $1.5 million from at least 38 investors and Blevins allegedly solicited
    over $2.5 million from at least 8 investors. The amended complaint alleges
    that Rev. Smith and Blevins received, respectively, approximately $378,000
    and $325,000 in commissions from Dominick.

Trial Has Begun for Remaining Defendants: Rev. Smith and Jay
    Blevins

The consent order announced today pertains only to Dominick and Main
    Street. The CFTC's case against Rev. Smith and Blevins went to trial on
    April 1, 1996. The CFTC is seeking restitution to investors, disgorgement
    of ill gotten gains, and permanent injunctions against Rev. Smith and
    Blevins, as well as a civil monetary penalty.

Dominick Agrees to Cooperate Fully with the CFTC's Ongoing
    Prosecution of the Case

Specifically, to settle the complaint, defendants Dominick and Main
    Street agreed to:

- cooperate fully with the Commission's case against Rev. Smith and
      Blevens, including giving testimony at trial;
- findings that they committed all of the violations alleged in the
      complaint, including an admission that they defrauded investors and
      converted investor funds;
- be permanently enjoined from further violations of the commodity
      futures laws; and
- be permanently enjoined from ever registering with the CFTC and from
      engaging in any activity in the commodity futures industry on behalf of
      others.

In addition, Dominick agreed to pay back $4.5 million (plus interest) in
    restitution to defrauded investors. Because Dominick had dissipated
    virtually all of the customer funds, the settlement provides for monthly
    payments of a substantial portion of Dominick's current income, with a
    provision for increasing the monthly payment should his financial situation
    change.

Finally, Main Street is permanently enjoined from trading commodities
    for its own account and Dominick is enjoined from so trading until or
    unless he pays the full restitution to the investors.

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