SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.

Litigation Release No. 16580 / June 1, 2000

Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release No. 1264 / June 1, 2000

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. CHRISTOPHER K. BAGDASARIAN AND SAM LANCE WHITE, Case No. 96-cv-7306 (S.D.N.Y.)

COURT ENTERS FINAL JUDGMENT AGAINST SAMUEL LANCE
WHITE FOR HIS ROLE IN NORMANDY AMERICA OFFERING

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on April 18, 2000, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment against Samuel Lance White that permanently enjoins him from violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5. White consented to entry of the judgment without admitting or denying the allegations of the Commission's complaint. Based on White's demonstrated inability to pay, the Court imposed no civil penalty against him.

The Commission's complaint, filed on September 26, 1996, charged White with participating in a fraudulent scheme involving a $200 million initial public offering by Normandy America Inc., a Delaware reinsurance company whose business plan depended on the ability of its chief executive, Christopher K. Bagdasarian, to successfully invest its reinsurance premium income in a portfolio of equity securities. Among other things, the complaint alleged that White helped fabricate an investment track record for Bagdasarian that was included in Normandy America's registration statement, provided false and misleading information to Normandy America's underwriters, and verified false information sent by Bagdasarian to Normandy America's lenders. [See Lit. Rel. 15075 (September 26, 1996).] Contemporaneous with the filing of the Commission's complaint, White was also indicted by a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on related criminal charges. A jury convicted White on all criminal charges in November 1997, and on June 30, 1999 the court sentenced him to 57 months imprisonment and ordered him to pay $6,475,898 in restitution. [United States v. Samuel Lance White, No. 96 Cr. 869 (S.D.N.Y.)]

In a related matter, on June 1, 2000, the Commission issued an administrative order pursuant to Rule 102(e) of the Commission's Rules of Practice denying White the privilege of appearing or practicing before the Commission as an accountant based on his criminal conviction and the entry of the court's injunction against him. White consented to the issuance of the Commission's order without admitting or denying the matters set forth therein, except for admitting that the final judgments upon which the order was based were entered against him. [See Rel. No. 34-42879 (June 1, 2000).]