SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. Litigation Release No. 16050 / February 2, 1999 SEC v. FLOYD LELAND OGLE, DONALD TABOR, KAILEY MINING CO., REUBEN PETERS, PETERS SECURITIES CO., LP, ALBINAS KURKULIS, ANDREW KURKULIS, PAUL KURKULIS, GARY COTTEN, AND ROBIN OPP, Civil Action No. 99 C 609 (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division) SEC BRINGS CROSS-BORDER MICROCAP FRAUD CHARGES AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENT OF EXSORBET INDUSTRIES, MANAGING PARTNER OF PETERS SECURITIES, AND CANADIAN-BASED KAILEY MINING COMPANY The Securities and Exchange Commission, in continuing its effort to crackdown on cross-border microcap fraud, late yesterday charged Floyd Leland Ogle, the former president of Exsorbet Industries, Inc. of Arkansas, Reuben Peters and his firm, Peters Securities Co., LP of Chicago, Illinois, the market maker for Exsorbet stock, and Ogle’s Canadian partner, Donald Tabor and his Canadian company, Kailey Mining Co., with manipulating Exsorbet’s stock from 1993 to 1996. The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, seeks permanent injunctive relief, accountings, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, pre-judgment interest, civil money penalties, and officer and director bars based upon numerous violations of the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws. Exsorbet Industries, currently named Consolidated Eco- Systems, Inc., produced a peat moss oil absorbent product which was purportedly useful in environmental cleanup and remediation services. The SEC’s complaint alleges that the defendants pushed the price of Exsorbet stock from $1 to $13 a share by giving or receiving bribes for participation in the manipulation, controlling the floating supply of Exsorbet stock, artificially fixing the opening price at $5 on the first day of public trading on February 4, 1994, and dominating and controlling the secondary market in the stock. The SEC also alleges extensive cross-border manipulation of Exsorbet’s stock by Ogle friend and business partner Donald Tabor of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada and Tabor’s company, Kailey Mining Co., including wash sales and matched trades, through four Canadian broker-dealers. The complaint further alleges that Ogle and Cotten issued a forged Environmental Protection Agency endorsement letter of Exsorbet’s oil absorbent product, and issued a false press release stating that Exsorbet had obtained $5 million in contracts. Floyd Leland Ogle was convicted in Canada in 1987 for criminal conspiracy to manipulate the stock of a Canadian company, for possession of stolen property, and for obstruction of justice. The other defendants named in the SEC’s lawsuit were Chicago stockbrokers Albinas Kurkulis, Andrew Kurkulis, and Paul Kurkulis, former San Diego stockbroker Robin Opp, and former Exsorbet executive vice president Gary Cotten of Muskogee, Oklahoma. Cotten is currently under federal indictment in New York City for securities fraud related to the bribery of stockbrokers. The Commission is seeking to enjoin the defendants based on violations of Sections 5 and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 15(c)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rules 10b-5, 10b-6, and 15c1-2 thereunder. Exsorbet stock, stock symbol "EXSO," started trading in the National Quotation Bureau Pink Sheets on February 4, 1994, moved to the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board on March 9, 1994, and became listed on the NASDAQ Small Cap Market on November 27, 1995. At its peak on September 22, 1995, Exsorbet’s market capitalization was $105.5 million. Because Exsorbet stock traded in these markets and was thinly capitalized, it is considered a "Microcap" stock. This Enforcement action is part of the SEC’s four-pronged approach to minimizing Microcap fraud: enforcement, inspections, investor education, and regulation. For more information about the SEC’s response to Microcap fraud, visit the SEC’s Microcap Fraud Information Center at http://www.sec.gov/news/extra/microcap.htm.