According to the docket posted, on August 23, 1999, the Court entered the Order signed by U.S. District Judge Henry L. Adams Jr. granting both joint motions to approve the settlement and dismiss the action. The action was dismissed with prejudice and the Defendants were released from all liability. The case was closed.

As summarized in the Stipulation and Agreement of Compromise and Settlement dated July 27, 1999, the plaintiffs Hubert and Mildred Coffey are awarded $2639.39 and plaintiffs Roger and Virginia S. Ellis are awarded $1933.39. Further, Defendants shall pay to Plaintiffs' counsel, attorneys' fees and costs in the amount of $35,000.

In a Press Release, dated June 24, 1996, a Tampa attorney has hit Great Western Financial Corp. and its banking and investment subsidiaries with a class action suit charging securities fraud, misleading sales practices and "bogus 'investment advisory"' services. The suit, filed last Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida was filed on behalf of four senior-citizen customers who purchased Great Western's proprietary mutual funds, the Sierra Trust Funds and, as the lawsuit describes them, the "chimerical investment advisory services through the 'Sierra Asset Management Account."' The suit alleges that Great Western misled customers by confusing securities with bank accounts, lacking required disclosure and following inaccurate sales scripts.