OTHER NEWS - March 7, 1996

SEC Files Fraud Complaint Over Ostrich Investments: More than 350 people nationwide may have lost $7.45 million by investing in limited partnerships to raise and breed ostriches, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the SEC charged Trans-American Ostrich Traders Inc., Larry R. Earp and David P. Silver with fraud in the sale of 17 limited-partnership offerings between November 1993 and February 1994. Investors were promised huge returns, the SEC said. The defunct Trans-American Ostrich of Thousand Palms, Calif., and the two Californians were charged with making untrue statements to investors, omitting key facts and failing to register the partnerships with the SEC. The defendants could not be reached for comment.