U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

             LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 15702 / April 9, 1998

             UNITED STATES V. LEONARD E. FIESSEL, ROBERT L. SHULL, TERRY
             L. SHULL and PATRICK A. COLLINS, Crim. Action No. 98-10112-
             MLW   (D. Mass.).

             The Commission and the United States Attorney for the
             District of Massachusetts announced that on April 8, 1998,
             Leonard A. Fiessel,  Robert L. Shull,  and Terry L. Shull,
             all of  British Columbia, Canada, and Patrick A. Collins, of
             Massachusetts,  were indicted by a federal grand jury for
             participating in a scheme to artificially increase the stock
             price of Fairmont Resources, Inc. ("Fairmont"), a Canadian
             oil and gas company . The 45-count indictment charges the
             defendants with securities fraud, conspiracy to commit
             securities fraud and wire fraud.  Previously, the Commission
             obtained permanent injunctions and orders to pay
             disgorgement against Leonard Fiessel, Robert Shull, Patrick
             Collins and six others for their participation in the
             scheme.

             The indictment alleges that after Leonard Fiessel and Robert
             Shull purchased a controlling interest in Fairmont, the
             defendants caused the price of Fairmont stock  to increase
             from $.30 to $3.10 per share between January and June 1993
             by  (1) paying kickbacks totaling $540,000 to stockbrokers
             in the United States for inducing their customers to
             purchase approximately 1,225,000 shares of Fairmont stock;
             (2) creating the false appearance of an active market in
             Fairmont stock by buying and selling large quantities of the
             stock, including through "wash  sales" and "cross trades,"
             and (3) controlling the timing of transactions in Fairmont
             stock to ensure that the stock price would continue to rise.
             The indictment also alleges that as a result of their
             manipulative activity, Leonard Fiessel, Robert Shull and
             Terry Shull sold large blocks of Fairmont stock at a
             substantial profit.  The indictment  also alleges that
             Collins, a self-employed promoter of penny stocks, received
             cash and shares of Fairmont in order to promote the sale of
             Fairmont stock to U.S. investors, and that he used some of
             that money to pay a U.S. stockbroker for selling shares of
             Fairmont to his clients.

             In a complaint filed on August 31, 1994, the Commission
             alleged that Leonard Fiessel, Colleen Fiessel, Robert Shull,
             Patrick Collins, and five U.S. stockbrokers -- Mark Hamel,
             Robert Raffa, William Cho, Jeffrey Fernandez and Michael
             Murphy -- violated the antifraud and registration provisions
             of the federal securities laws.  Final judgments have been
             entered against all of the defendants in that action, and
             they have been ordered to disgorge over $2 million.

             For further information, see Litigation Release Nos. 14213,
             14342, 14352, 14441, 18409 and 15021.