News Release

Released: 04/08/99 Contact: Michael Bernard
899-6500 or
(BC only) 1-800-373-6393

Vancouver -- A Victoria man has been prohibited from acting as a director or officer of any issuing company and banned from engaging in investor relations after a British Columbia Securities Commission panel found he was trading and advising in securities without being registered to do so.

The prohibitions were applied against Kenneth Walter Hrappstead, doing business as North American Group, and are effective for two years and until such time as he has completed appropriate courses of study.

In the decision released today, Hrappstead was also ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $1,500 and is prohibited for two years from using the exemptions under the Securities Act which would permit him to trade and advise in securities.

The panel found Hrappstead encouraged investors to invest in "High Yield Investment Programs" that claimed to offer rates of return as high as 380% per month. There was no evidence that any investors actually invested in any of Hrappstead's investment programs.

"We have taken into account the fact that no actual harm was done to investors, as well as Hrappstead's co-operation with the investigation," the panel said in its decision. "Nevertheless we cannot overlook the potential for harm that was inherent in Hrappstead's activities."

"It is also important that Hrappstead understand that his activities are unacceptable in the context of securities regulation in British Columbia."

Copies of the full written decision in this case are available on the commission's Web site (www.bcsc.bc.ca) or by contacting Communications Manager Michael Bernard. The British Columbia Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities and exchange contracts within the province.