Release: #4152-98 (3:98 Civ.0281AS)

For Release; June 8, 1998

**CFTC FILES COMPLAINT AND OBTAINS AN ASSET FREEZE AGAINST DEFENDANTS    IN INDIANA ACCUSED OF COMMODITY FRAUD; The CFTC's Anti-Fraud Complaint    Names****Steven D. Hudkins; Carmen J. Field; Mona L. Smith; Bart    BeMiller;****Robert J. Riethman, and Market Capital Growth,    Inc.**

WASHINGTON � The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)    announced today that on May 29, 1998, it filed an eight-count complaint in    the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend    Division, seeking emergency relief against six defendants charged with    violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and    CFTC regulations. The defendants named are: **Steven D. Hudkins** (of    Elkhart, Indiana), **Carmen J. Field** (of South Bend, Indiana), **Mona    L. Smith** (of South Bend, Indiana), **Market Capital Growth, Inc.**    (of Elkhart, Indiana), **Bart BeMiller** (of Wakarusa, Indiana) and **Robert J. Riethman** (of Fishers, Indiana). Hudkins, Field, and Smith    were also alleged to have done business under the name **HFI**.

On June 3, 1998, the Honorable Judge Allen Sharp entered a statutory    restraining order freezing the assets of defendants Hudkins, Field, Smith,    and Market Capital Growth, Inc. The court also entered an order prohibiting    all of the defendants from destroying any of their books and records and    requiring them to make their books and records available for inspection and    copying by the CFTC. Judge Sharp referred this matter to the Honorable    Robin D. Pierce, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Indiana    for a hearing on a preliminary injunction. Judge Pierce set the hearing    date for June 23, 1998, at 9:30 am.

**CFTC Alleges that the Defendants Defrauded More than 135 Investors in    Indiana**

**and Elsewhere Who Had Invested More Than $2.28 Million in Two    Commodity Pools**

In the complaint, the CFTC alleges that the defendants defrauded more    than 135 investors in Indiana and elsewhere who had invested more than    $2.28 million in two commodity pools during a six-year period. The    complaint charges that in operating these pools, one from at least 1992    through the present, and the other from 1992 - 1995, the defendants    violated the CEA by, among other things:

-- misappropriating funds received from investors;

-- representing to investors that their funds would be used only to      trade commodities, when they were used for non-authorized expenses of the      pools;

-- misrepresenting the trading experience of the individual who made      the investment decisions for the pools and the trading record of the      pools; and

-- issuing false account statements to investors, which showed that      their investments were profitable, when they were not.

In addition, the complaint charges that the defendants violated CFTC    regulations by not operating their commodity pools as entities separate    from that of the pool operator, by commingling the assets of each of the    pools with the assets of the defendants, and failing to provide proper    disclosures to investors before they invested in one of the pools. Hudkins    was charged with acting as a commodity trading advisor without being    registered with the CFTC. Four defendants, Hudkins, Field, BeMiller and    Market Capital Growth, were charged with operating a commodity pool without    being registered with the CFTC, and Smith and Riethman were charged with    operating as associated persons of commodity pool operators without being    registered with the CFTC.

The complaint asks the court to enjoin each defendant from further    violations of the CEA and CFTC regulations, and seeks disgorgement of all    benefits received, restitution to the defrauded investors, and civil    monetary penalties.

The CFTC appreciates the cooperation of the State of Indiana Department    of Securities in this investigation.