Release:#3964-96 (Civ 96-14284)

For Release: November 5, 1996

**FLORIDA FEDERAL COURT ENTERS*****EX** PARTE ASSET FREEZE    ORDER IN JOINT*

*CFTC-STATE OF FLORIDA ANTI-FRAUD ACTION AGAINST JAMES V. DOWLER, JR.    AND DOWLER & BEEKMAN TRADING CO. LTD., BOTH OF VERO BEACH,    FLORIDA*

**Complaint Filed by the CFTC, with Florida's Department of Banking and    Finance as**

**Co-Plaintiff, Charges Defendants with Cheating, Defrauding and    Embezzling More than $400,000 from Customers**

WASHINGTON -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced    today that on November 4, 1996, the Honorable James C. Paine of the U.S.    District Court for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach    issued an ***ex** parte* restraining order freezing the assets of    **James V. Dowler, Jr. (d/b/a Dowler & Beekman)** and **Dowler    & Beekman Trading Company, Ltd. (D&B Trading)**, both of Vero    Beach, Florida. The order also prohibits the destruction of books and    records and requires defendants to provide the CFTC with access to the    defendants' books and records.

Dowler has not been registered with the CFTC in any capacity since 1986,    and D&B Trading has never been registered with the Commission in any    capacity.

The court's action stems from an eight-count injunctive complaint filed    on the same day by the CFTC, with the Florida State Department of Banking    and Finance as co-plaintiff, alleging that the defendants violated the *Commodity Exchange Act (CEA)* and CFTC regulations by embezzling and    converting customers' funds to their own personal and business uses,    committing fraud by falsely representing the state of customers' accounts,    and failing to include the proper information regarding their hypothetical    trading performance in advertisements.

In addition, the complaint alleges that the defendants violated the    registration provisions of Federal commodity law by acting and operating as    an unregistered commodity pool operator (CPO), commodity trading advisor    (CTA), and associated person (AP). The defendants, according to the    complaint, solicited and misappropriated more than $400,000 from at least    three customers in Vero Beach, Florida. The Florida Department of Banking    and Finance also charges the defendants with violating the Florida    Securities and Investor Protection Act (FSIPA).

The defendants allegedly embezzled customer funds and defrauded    customers by diverting customer funds without authority, misappropriating    trading profits, failing to disclose substantial trading losses and the    diversion and misappropriation of customer funds, and failing to disclose    the pooling of customer funds.

In its case against the defendants, the CFTC is seeking preliminary and    permanent injunctions prohibiting further violations of Federal commodity    law. In addition, the CFTC is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains,    restitution to allegedly defrauded customers, and civil monetary penalties    of up to $100,000, or triple the monetary gain to defendants, for each    violation. The State of Florida is seeking preliminary and permanent    injunctions prohibiting further violations of the FSIPA.

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