"A Wounded Animal"

Between appearances in Federal court in Manhattan last week. Fancy Financier Alexander L. Guterma (TIME, Feb. 23) took time out to pass his own sentence. Bleated he: "I'm a mortally wounded animal. I've been completely ruined and discredited before any determination by the courts." There was little doubt that Guterma, charged with fraud by SEC, spoke the truth.

Guterma resigned as chairman and president of F. L. Jacobs Co., the diversified holding company for his 13 (at last count) corporations. In as chairman went beefy (225 Ibs.) Hal Roach Jr., whose heavy interests in Hal Roach Studios and Mutual Broadcasting System, two Jacobs' affiliates, spurred him to purchase Guterma's stock interests in F. L. Jacobs. Said Roach: "I want to get what I believe is an inherently good company back in shape." But SEC insisted that the only way to achieve that was for F. L. Jacobs to be placed in the hands of a court receiver. Charged SEC: Jacobs Co. assets were being "dissipated, misused and alienated," and Guterma was "deliberately walking out" on loan obligations he backed with Jacobs Co. stock. This ploy, alleged SEC, forced the moneylenders who had accepted Jacobs stock as collateral for loans to sell it to regain their funds.

SEC also charged that "some $2.000,000" appears to be "siphoned out" of the Jacobs Co. into Comficor, Inc. "Comficor," said New York SEC Administrator Paul Windels Jr., "is Guterma." Guterma denied this.

The international character of Guterma's operations was also limelighted last week when Canadian Stock Broker J. Ernest Savard of Savard & Hart was suspended from Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges because his firm's capital had fallen short of requirements after involvement in a Guterma deal.

At week's end the court had still to rule on SEC's motions against Guterma, but the Siberia-born financier was also being investigated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Brooklyn grand jury.

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