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             U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 15101 / October 1, 1996

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUSH,
III, and BEN BUSH INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC., a California
corporation, Civil Action No. 96-6748 (RSWL) (Ex) (C.D. Cal.)

     The United States Securities and Exchange Commission
announced that on September 25, 1996, it filed an emergency
lawsuit in federal court to halt an ongoing investment scheme by
Los Angeles-based investment adviser Benjamin Franklin Bush, III.

In response to the Commission's action, on September 26, 1996,
the Court ordered Bush to immediately cease his fraudulent
activities.  Additionally, in order to protect investor funds,
the Court placed a freeze on Bush's assets for 10 days pending a
hearing to determine the full extent of his fraudulent conduct. 
The Commission told the Court that Bush is commingling and
misappropriating client funds and preparing false account
statements to conceal his misappropriation.  Bush has also used
forged brokerage statements to solicit clients' business.  In
addition, Bush induced several of his clients to purchase
Brazilian bonds of uncertain value issued in 1902 and 1915 which
Bush keeps in his safety deposit box at his local bank. 

     Bush, through his firm, Ben Bush Investment Management, Inc.
located in Pacific Palisades, California, manages approximately
$10 million for wealthy and sophisticated clients nationwide. 
The Commission's complaint alleges, among other things, that from
January 1995 through the present, Bush has misappropriated at
least $450,000 of his clients' funds.  In executing his scheme,
Bush allegedly accepts money from clients to purchase investments
on their behalf, but does not purchase the investments.  Instead,
Bush commingles client funds with his own funds in a single
corporate bank account which he uses like a private checking
account to pay his own expenses, such as rent, alimony and car
insurance, and to purchase such personal items as hockey tickets
and jewelry.  Bush then sends his clients false account
statements, fraudulently showing that he had purchased
investments on their behalf.  

     In the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States
District Court for the Central District of California, the
Commission obtained an order temporarily enjoining Bush and Ben
Bush Investment Management, Inc. from future violations of
Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act"),
Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange
Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ("Advisers Act"), antifraud
provisions; Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act and Rule 206(4)-2
thereunder, custody and possession violations; Section 204 of the
Advisers Act and Rules 204-1(b)(2), 204-2(a) and 204-2(b)
thereunder, books and records violations; and Section 207 of the
Advisers Act, registration filings violations.  The Commission
also seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, and other
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relief, including disgorgement and civil penalties against Bush
and his firm.