SEC Fails In Civil Action Against Courtney Smith

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 28, 2008 -- January 24, 2008 - Los Angeles, CA.


Courtney Smith & Co., Inc. is pleased to announce that its Chairman, Courtney Smith, prevailed over the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a civil suit that the SEC had brought against him in early 2005. This now means that Mr. Smith has prevailed in all cases brought against him arising from Mr. Smith’s interactions with GenesisIntermedia.

The Department of Justice indicted Mr. Smith in early 2005 on 11 criminal counts, but that trial resulted in a full acquittal on the merits in December 2005. Mr. Smith and others were the subject of a securities class action suit brought in late 2001 which resulted in a dismissal of Mr. Smith from the case in 2007. Finally, the SEC filed a civil enforcement action against Mr. Smith within days of his indictment by the SEC in February 2007. Trial on that suit resulted yesterday in the seven member jury refusing to grant the SEC a victory, finding Mr. Smith “Not Liable” on three out of four claims, and hanging (5-2 for the defense) on a fourth claim. There are no more actions pending against Mr. Smith.

"I am very pleased that this whole legal morass is behind me. I have beaten three very tough opponents simply because I was innocent. There can now be no doubt that these spurious allegations that first surfaced in 2001 were completely wrong, and we have proved such in a court of law.", Mr. Smith stated.

He went on, "This whole case started with corrupt, convicted FBI agents calling the SEC in 2001 and spreading false information about GenesisIntermedia (GENI.pk) and it's then CEO, Ramy El-Batrawi. I believe that the catastrophe on September 11, 2001 caused law enforcement agencies to concentrate their attention on people with Arab last names, such as Mr. El-Batrawi, even though he is an American citizen. There was a rush to judgment that, at least in my case, was not borne out by the facts."

"There were two major keys to this string of victories. First, I was innocent. Second, I had an excellent legal team headed by George B. Newhouse, Jr. of Brown & White in Los Angeles. They did a superlative job in protecting my rights against these mendacious claims." Mr. Smith added.

"This whole experience has, of course, been a big blow to my reputation. I now look forward to re-establishing myself in the financial community and restoring my good reputation." Mr. Smith stated.

Courtney Smith & Co., Inc. is a research and investment firm. It publishes the Stock Trading Letter.
For further information contact Courtney Smith at 888.464.8666 or George Newhouse at 213.613.9474.

Courtney Smith     GENI     Ramy El-Batrawi     sec