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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Rocky Mountain Int'l (OTC:RMIL former OTC:OVIS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeff Harrington who wrote (51685)	8/18/1998 1:45:00 PM
From: bmart	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 55532

Tuesday August 18, 1:09 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Maddox Koeller Hargett & Caruso Largest Securities Arbitration Investor Award in U.S. History Announced Penny Stock Brokerage Firm Hit With Largest Punitive Damages Ever; Case Illustrates Danger of Proposal to Limit Punitive Damages INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Maddox Koeller Hargett & Caruso announced today that an arbitration claim brought by a 73- year-old Hoosier retiree against the Lake Success, N.Y.-based penny stock brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont and nine executive and salespeople has resulted in an award of $13.1 million, including $10.5 million in punitive damages. According to the newsletter Securities Arbitration Commentator, the previous record for an overall award was $10.2 million and the closest punitive damage award in an earlier case was $10 million. Along with his colleague Thomas A. Hargett, attorney Mark Maddox, a former Indiana Securities Commissioner, handled the claim made by Edward Howard, of Seymour, Indiana. Maddox also is the incoming president of Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA), the national organization of lawyers specializing in securities arbitration cases. ''This case illustrates in vivid terms how it is that the proposed cap on punitive damages in arbitration cases would send precisely the wrong message to investment firms and individual brokers,'' Maddox said. ''For outlaw firms, the cap would make arbitration awards a minor -- and easily ignored -- cost of doing business. The last thing we should be doing is to encourage microcap stock pushers and other fly-by-night operations to prey on the vulnerable.'' If the proposed cap on punitive damages had been in place prior to the claim being filed by Mr. Howard, the punitive award would have been limited to $750,000. Stratton Oakmont was found by arbitrators to have engaged in intentional fraud, theft and unauthorized trades. Maddox said that Howard was lured into doing business with Stratton Oakmont through a series of cold calls in which misrepresentations were made about the firm's stature and reputability. Stratton Oakmont convinced Howard into opening an account in order to make $5,000 in purchases of well-known stocks. After gaining Howard's confidence, the firm then proceeded to loot his retirement nest eggs by an escalating series of unsuitable recommendations of Stratton-controlled ''house stocks,'' which resulted in devastating losses for Howard. Maddox said: ''The Howard case is a textbook illustration of how investors can use the low-cost approach of arbitration to get real justice in the face of flagrant abuses. At a time when market volatility points to the potential of a possible bear market that would have the effect of bringing to light many more such problem cases, our emphasis should be on making sure that investors are not stripped of their rights through such ill-conceived steps as the proposed cap on punitive damages. The only people who would win under that kind of arrangement are the people who specialize in picking the pockets of investors.'' The Howard case was brought against Stratton Oakmont, Inc., Eric S. Blumen, Ira Albert Boshnack, Jordan Belfort, Daniel Porush, Kenneth Greene, Andrew Greene, Paul Byrne, Daniel F. Grasso, and Steve Sanders. The arbitration decision was made by a three-person panel, including one industry arbitrator. Today, Maddox Koeller Hargett & Caruso has one of the largest practices that concentrates in the representation of securities investors in the United States. The firm handles cases on behalf of investors against virtually any and all brokerage firms in the United States, regardless of size or location. Maddox, Koeller, Hargett & Caruso consists of a former State Securities Commissioner, a former stock broker, and a former General Counsel to a national brokerage company. SOURCE: Maddox Koeller Hargett & Caruso