U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Ligation Release No. 16171 / June 2, 1999

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. PATRICK L. ANTRIM, DAVID HUDSON III, LORETTA ANTRIM and MICHAEL S. WHITNEY, Civil Action No. 98-535 GLT (EEx) (C.D. Cal.)

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on May 20, 1999, the Honorable Gary L. Taylor of the United States District Court for the Central District of California entered a Final Judgment by consent against defendant Michael S. Whitney ("Whitney"). Whitney, age 46 and a resident of Irvine, California, was an officer, director, and consultant of The Ostrich Group, Inc. ("Ostrich Group") which was located in Irvine, California. The Final Judgment permanently enjoins Whitney from future violations of the antifraud and broker-dealer registration provisions of the federal securities laws, and orders him to pay disgorgement in the amount of $25,439, plus prejudgment interest.

In its Complaint, the Commission alleged that from late 1995 until June 1997, Whitney and his co-defendants fraudulently raised $819,108.61 from approximately 83 investors in several states through the sale of investment contracts for the sale and boarding of ostrich breeder birds. The money raised from investors was to be used to purchase, board and breed ostriches, and the defendants promised extravagant returns from the sale of ostrich offspring to meat processing plants. However, the defendants misused investors' funds by spending most of the money on themselves and their family members instead of purchasing and boarding ostriches. Whitney personally billed, collected and pocketed $25,439 as boarding fees for non-existent ostriches. The Final Judgment enjoins Whitney from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.