==========================================START OF PAGE 1====== SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. MICHAEL ZAMAN and SMITH BENTON & HUGHES, INC., United States District Court for the Central District of California, Civil Action No. 96-4164 (MRP) (JRx) Litigation Rel. No. 14947 / June 17, 1996 The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") has announced that on June 12, 1996 it filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Michael Zaman ("Zaman") and the brokerage firm he controls, Smith, Benton & Hughes ("Smith Benton"), alleging that they orchestrated and directed a market manipulation scheme for the stock of Conectisys Corporation ("Conectisys") and caused the price of its shares to trade at prices 250 percent higher than pre-manipulation levels. On June 13, 1996, the Honorable Mariana R. Pfaelzer granted the Commission's application for a Temporary Restraining Order, prohibiting defendants from violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The Court also issued a temporary order freezing all of Zaman's assets and requiring defendants to prepare an accounting of their dealings in Conectisys shares. More specifically, the Commission's Complaint alleges that from February 14, 1996 through at least May 28, 1996, through prearranged trading and other manipulative activities, defendants Zaman and Smith Benton, with the cooperation of other broker- dealers, caused the price of Conectisys stock to soar from $6 1/4 per share on February 14, 1996 to $22 per share on May 9, 1996; and that thereafter, the stock continued trading at high prices, ranging from approximately $17 to $22 per share, as a result of defendants' manipulative trading practices. From February 14 through May 28, 1996, deceptively high trading volume was also reported: average weekly trading volume was approximately 2,200 percent higher than during the previous three month period. These dramatic increases in the price and trading volume of Conectisys shares was a result of defendants' illegal conduct and not indicative of genuine market interest. As alleged in the complaint, Zaman and Smith Benton's retail brokers induced unsuspecting investors to purchase Conectisys shares -- at inflated prices -- by making false and misleading statements concerning its future financial and business prospects and failing to disclose that the price of the stock was inflated as a result of defendants' manipulative conduct. ==========================================START OF PAGE 2====== Conectisys is a start-up company that from its inception in 1986 to the present has been operating at a loss. The company has never had any material purchase orders or contracts for product, and during most of its existence, there has been no trading activity in its stock. There were no corporate developments or other reasons for the dramatic and rapid increase in the price or volume of Conectisys stock. Moreover, the price of the stock continued to rise even after the company disclosed negative information in a Commission filing, including the fact that it was operating at a loss and had no material contracts or purchase orders. The fraudulent and deceptive scheme yielded profits of at least $800,000. The Commission believes that Zaman, directly and/or through Smith Benton and a company controlled by Zaman, is the beneficiary of these ill-gotten gains. Defendants are charged with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Sections 10(b) and 15(c)(1)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5, 15c1-2, and 15c1-8 thereunder. The Commission Complaint seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement of defendants' ill-gotten gains, together with prejudgment interest, and the imposition of civil money penalties. The Commission wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the NASD in this matter.