Litigation Release No. 19131 / March 11, 2005

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Robert Kasirer, et al., Case Number 04-CV-04340 (U.S.D.C. N.D. Ill., filed June 29, 2004)

SEC OBTAINS FINAL JUDGMENT AGAINST JOEL BOEHM, JAMES IVERSON AND VICTOR DHOOGE IN MUNICIPAL REVENUE BOND OFFERING FRAUD

The Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) announced that on March 3, 2005, the Honorable Matthew F. Kennelly, Judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, issued final judgments against Defendants Joel T. Boehm (Boehm), James E. Iverson (Iverson) and Victor P. Dhooge (Dhooge), which: (1) permanently enjoin Boehm, Iverson and Dhooge from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder; (2) order Boehm to pay disgorgement in the amount of $152,500, plus prejudgment interest thereon in the amount of $62,902.64, and do not impose a civil penalty and waive payment of all but $24,167.99 of the disgorgement and prejudgment interest ordered based on Boehm’s representations to the Commission regarding his financial condition; (3) order Iverson to pay disgorgement in the amount of $109,000, plus prejudgment interest thereon in the amount of $41,941.09, impose a civil penalty of $75,000, and do not require payment of the $150,941.09 of disgorgement and prejudgment interest ordered against Iverson because that obligation is considered satisfied by payments exceeding $150,941.09 that Iverson has previously made from his own funds to settle related investor actions; and (4) order Dhooge to pay disgorgement in the amount of $295,194, plus prejudgment interest thereon in the amount of $132,212.02, for a total of $427,406.02, and find this obligation to have been satisfied in part by payments totaling $140,000.00 that Dhooge has previously made from his own funds to settle related investor actions, leaving $287,406.02 of the disgorgement and prejudgment interest ordered against Dhooge unsatisfied, and do not impose a civil penalty and waive payment of all but $120,000 of the remaining disgorgement and prejudgment interest amount against Dhooge based on his representations to the Commission regarding his financial condition. Boehm, Iverson and Dhooge consented to the entry of the final judgments without admitting or denying the allegations contained in the Commission's Complaint.

The Commission’s Complaint alleged that from February 1996 through August 1999, Boehm, Iverson, Dhooge and others (Defendants), acting in concert, fraudulently offered and sold over $131 million of municipal revenue bonds to members of the public to finance the development of specified healthcare facilities by Heritage Housing Development, Inc. The Defendants offered and sold the bonds in question through a series of eleven offerings underwritten by the now-defunct Minnesota broker-dealer firm of Miller & Schroeder Financial, Inc. (Miller & Schroeder). The Defendants sold the bonds to more than 1,800 investors residing in 36 States. According to the Complaint, Iverson and Dhooge, registered representatives of Miller & Schroeder, managed the underwriting of the various bond offerings, despite their knowledge that bond proceeds were being wrongfully commingled and diverted. Boehm, an attorney who acted as counsel for Miller & Schroeder in the bond offerings, issued favorable legal opinions despite his knowledge that bond proceeds were being wrongfully commingled and diverted. The Complaint alleged that Boehm, Iverson and Dhooge, acting knowingly or with a reckless disregard for the truth, all took part in writing, reviewing, or disseminating bond prospectuses which misled investors and that all the Defendants personally profited from the scheme.

This case is still pending against Defendants Robert A. Kasirer and Jerold V. Goldstein and several relief defendants.

For additional information, see Litigation Release No. 18774.

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr19131.htm