SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


     LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 15777 /  June 9, 1998 

     United States v. Robert D. Gersh (United States District Court for the
     District of Massachusetts, 97CR10277(RGS), filed October 10/23/97)

          The Commission and the United States Attorney for the District of
     Massachusetts announced that, on June 9, 1998, Robert D. Gersh ( Gersh ),
     of Burlington, Massachusetts, was sentenced by the Hon. Richard D. Stearns,
     United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, to serve a
     term of 33 months in federal prison, followed by a three-year term of
     supervised release.  In addition, Judge Stearns ordered Gersh to pay
     restitution to defrauded investors.  Gersh was also prohibited from
     incurring new credit charges or opening new lines of credit unless he is
     current in making restitution payments pursuant to a schedule to be
     determined by the U.S. Probation Office.  Gersh was ordered to report to
     prison by 12:00 noon on July 7.

          On December 22, 1997, Gersh pleaded guilty to ten counts of Interstate
     Transportation of Stolen Property.  According to the Information, filed by
     the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts on October 23,
     1997, Gersh, between January 1990 and July 1995, misappropriated over $4
     million in investor moneys that had been entrusted to two corporations
     under his control, Boston Municipal Securities, Inc. ("BMS") and Devonshire
     Escrow and Transfer Corp. ("Devonshire").  Gersh faced a maximum sentence
     of ten years in prison for each count of the Information.

          The Information involved essentially the same underlying facts that
     were the subject of a November 25, 1995 Commission complaint filed against
     Gersh, BMS and Devonshire.  The Information charged that, in 1990 and 1991,
     Gersh, acting through BMS and Devonshire, marketed and sold over $14
     million of five-year Certificates of Participation ("COPs") to investors. 
     Under the terms of the COPs, investor money was to be invested in pools of
     equipment leases entered into by state and local governments. According to
     the Information, although a large share of the investors' money was
     initially invested in state and municipal lease obligations, many of the
     states and municipalities paid off their leases within one or two years. 
     Those payments returned millions of dollars to BMS and Devonshire. 
     According to the Information, Gersh was required either to return the money
     to investors or to reinvest it in safe, highly-liquid securities.  Instead,
     Gersh used approximately $4 million of the COPs money to finance various
     business ventures in his own name, including a medical billing company, a
     Judaica book store, several kitchen supply stores, and a model airplane and
     ship distributorship.  According to the Information, Gersh covered up his
     diversion of the COPs funds by using some of the money to make semiannual
     "interest payments to investors, leading them to believe that their
     principal investment was safe and sound.

          On March 20, 1997, the Honorable Reginald C. Lindsay of the U.S.
     District Court for the District of Massachusetts enjoined Gersh, BMS and

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     Devonshire, in the Commission s action, from further violations of certain
     antifraud provisions of the securities laws.  Gersh, BMS and Devonshire
     consented to the injunctive orders without admitting or denying the
     complaint's allegations.  Gersh was also ordered to disgorge $7,451,935,
     plus prejudgment interest thereon, provided, however, that payment of
     $5,949,185 of such amount, plus the prejudgment interest, was waived based
     on his demonstrated inability to pay.  The Commission also barred Gersh
     from association with any broker, dealer, municipal securities dealer,
     investment adviser or investment company.

          For further information, See Litigation Release Nos. 14742, 14785,
     15310 and 15550, and Rel. Nos. 34-38459 and IA-1626.









































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