OTHER NEWS - Aug. 8, 1996

Newsletter Publisher Charged With Fraud: The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Yale Hirsch, publisher of the Ground Floor and Smart Money newsletters, secretly accepted payments in 1991 and ’92 to tout Davstar Industries, which is now Costa Mesa-based Urohealth Systems. The SEC had settled with Urohealth in December, after charging the firm with issuing false news releases and paying a newsletter to promote its shares. The new SEC suit names Hirsch for the first time as the newsletter publisher. Hirsch received warrants to buy stock in Davstar but failed to properly disclose that, the SEC says. Hirsch, in Old Tappan, N.J., denied that he failed to give notice to his readers, saying, “That’s not true and we will defend it.”