-------------------- BEGINNING OF PAGE #1 ------------------- UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 14783 / January 16, 1996 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. KAREN L. SCHERM and ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, Civil No. 1:93-CV-2226-WCO (USDC ND GA) The Commission announced that on January 3, 1996, the Honorable J. Owen Forrester, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, entered an Order of Permanent Injunction and Other Relief against defendant Robert Zimmerman ("Zimmerman"), formerly a certified public accountant in Atlanta, Georgia. The defendant consented to the entry of the permanent injunction without admitting or denying the allegations contained in the Commission's First Amended Complaint. The Commission's complaint, filed on May 14, 1992, alleged aiding and abetting violations against Zimmerman in conjunction with fraud in the offer and sale of securities in customers' Drexel Burnham Lambert ("Drexel") accounts. Zimmerman's codefendant Karen Scherm was a registered representative associated with Drexel at the time the violations occurred. Following a judgment in favor of the Commission on September 30, 1993, an intervening change in the law as to aiding and abetting violations was raised on appeal and the case was remanded to the trial court. The Commission's First Amended Complaint, filed on August 25, 1995, alleged primary violations against Zimmerman in conjunction with fraud in the offer and sale of securities in the customers' accounts. Zimmerman was ordered to disgorge $290,570.60 in ill-gotten gains, but disgorgement in excess of $25,000 was waived based upon Zimmerman's demonstrated inability to pay. Zimmerman is currently incarcerated at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary for a tax evasion conviction arising from the same facts as in the Commission's case. The Court's order permanently enjoins Zimmerman from future violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act"), and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. (See also, Litigation Release No. 13820, October 5, 1993; Litigation Release No. 13313, July 14, 1992).