August 5, 2003

PRESS RELEASE

FORMER PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL CONSULTING, INC.
CHARGED WITH TAX EVASION

Boston, MA... An Andover man was charged today in federal court with tax evasion for failing to report a substantial amount of income on his tax returns, that he earned as the former President and partial owner of Digital Consulting, Inc.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Joseph A. Galasso, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, announced today that RONALD GOMES, age 61, of 1 Rose Glen Drive, Andover, Massachusetts, was charged in an Information with three counts of tax evasion.

The Information alleges that GOMES, the former President and 5% owner of Digital Consulting, Inc. ("DCI") failed to report a substantial amount of income on his tax returns for the years 1993 through 1995. For each of the taxable years charged in the Information, GOMES filed a false and fraudulent tax return which did not reveal the accurate income he earned from DCI. The Information charges that GOMES received income from revenues that were generated by DCI and diverted to the Bank of Bermuda in order to evade the payment of federal income taxes.

DCI is a company located in Andover, Massachusetts, that since 1982 has been in the business of organizing and conducting computer-based training seminars, trade shows, and conferences for businesses in the computer industry. DCI generates its revenue from ticket sales to participants who attend the seminars, trade shows, and other events, as well as from contracting and selling of booth space to vendors involved in these shows. The Information alleges that from 1992 through in or about 1996, DCI diverted over $8 million of its gross receipts to Digital Consulting International, Ltd. ("DCIL"), a sham corporation set up in Bermuda, for the purpose of evading the payment of taxes on that income. GOMES, who was also DCI's Chief Operating Officer, was aware of DCI's scheme to evade taxes and received approximately $913,177 from 1993 through 1995, that he failed to report on his income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service.

If convicted on these charges, GOMES faces up to 5 years' imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and a $100,000 fine on each of the three counts.

The investigation is continuing.

The investigation is being conducted by the Internal Revenue Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz in Sullivan's Economic Crimes Unit.

Press Contact: Samantha Martin, (617) 748-3139