EX-EMPLOYEES OF HOMESTORE TO PLEAD GUILTY PAIR ACCUSED IN AD FRAUD.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

WESTLAKE VILLAGE - Two more former employees of Homestore Inc. will plead guilty to criminal and civil fraud charges for their roles in inflating advertising revenues at the company, federal authorities said Wednesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has also sued a former Homestore manager in connection with assisting in the scheme.

This brings to 14 the number of former workers at the Westlake Village-based Internet company caught up in the scam that overstated revenues by $152 million in 2000 and 2001. It involved booking barter transactions with other companies as advertising revenue.

Homestore did not return calls seeking comment.

Of the 14 sued by the SEC, nine were also criminally charged and seven have already pleaded guilty, said assistant U.S. attorney Douglas Fuchs.

``They are all cooperating with the government investigation. There could be additional indictments or guilty pleas. This doesn't signal the end of the government investigation by any means,'' said Fuchs.

The federal attorney's office for the Central District of California said that:

--Geoffrey Infeld, 36, of Thousand Oaks will plead guilty to one count of wire fraud. He was a former Homestore salesman and is currently an officer and part-owner of Cyberhorse Inc., a private sales and marketing company involved in the fraudulent transactions. He also owned or controlled several private Internet companies that he used to assist Homestore in its fraud.

He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

To settle the SEC case, Infeld will repay $17,400 in profits from the fraudulent transaction with Homestore, plus interest, and will pay a fine of $35,000.

--In the criminal case, Clayton Chan, 39, of San Francisco will plead guilty to one count of securities fraud. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

Chan, now working for a private firm, was vice president of Homestore's Strategic Alliances Group from January 2001 until that July and was later promoted to senior vice president of the operation.

To settle the SEC case, Chan will repay $179,124 in profits from his exercise of Homestore stock options and commissions he earned during the fraud, plus interest, and pay a $50,000 fine. He will also be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for a period of 10 years.

--The SEC also sued Gregory Antoniono, 42, of Thousand Oaks, the contracts manager at Homestore during 2001, for his alleged role in the operation. He later became Homestore's director of contracts.

To settle the suit, he will repay $69,013 in profits from his exercise of Homestore stock options, plus interest, and pay a fine of $25,000, the government said.

He was not criminally charged.

Fuchs said Chan and Infeld will be arraigned in the near future. None of the other defendants who have entered their pleas has been sentenced. But in cases in which defendants cooperate, the government typically seeks lighter sentences than the maximum, Fuchs said.

Nathan Hochman, Infeld's attorney, said his client has been cooperating and will continue to do so.

Douglas Young, Chan's attorney, said his client wants to put the matter in the past.

``These (charges) concern allegations that are now over three years old. Mr. Chan was then and is now a well-intentioned young family man who found himself at the time in a highly charged atmosphere that he could not control,'' Young said.

Antoniono's attorney declined comment.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com