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         UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 15162 / November 20, 1996


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. ROBERT CLIFFORD COWAN
No. 5:96-MG-072, USDC/ND, TX (Lubbock Division)

     The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") and
the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas
announced that on November 8, 1996, a criminal complaint charging
mail fraud was filed against Robert Clifford Cowan ("Cowan") of
Lubbock, Texas. The criminal complaint alleges that Cowan
received over $400,000 from a client for the purpose of investing
in trust units in CS Investments ("CSI"), an entity which Cowan
represented to be an investment company registered with the
Commission, and that the client received checks from Cowan
purportedly representing interest from his trust account when, in
fact, the checks represented monies taken in from new investors
in the CSI trust accounts.

     Previously, on November 5, 1996, the Commission filed a
civil complaint against Cowan, and the Court simultaneously
granted the Commission's request for a temporary restraining
order prohibiting Cowan, CS Investments, and Cowan Asset
Management, Inc., a registered investment adviser, from violating
the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.
According to the complaint, Cowan raised at least $1 million, and
as much as $3 million, from his customers for the purpose of
purchasing trust units in CSI. In fact, according to the
complaint, CSI does not exist, apart from Cowan's
misrepresentations and created records, and does not hold
securities or funds for customers; rather, Cowan used customers'
funds for his personal expenses, and to satisfy periodic payments
and redemptions for his customers as part of a "ponzi" scheme.