ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996                TAG: 9604040051
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-7  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press

NORTH TAKING BODY-ARMOR COMPANY PUBLIC

Oliver North and another key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal are planning to offer stock in their bulletproof-vest company.

North, the former Marine who was a key White House figure in the Iran-Contra scandal and in 1994 a candidate for one of Virginia's U.S. Senate seats, is president of Guardian Technologies International Inc. He co-founded the company in 1989 with Joseph F. Fernandez, a former top CIA officer also involved in Iran-Contra.

According to papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Guardian Technologies plans to raise $3.6 million next year by selling 850,000 shares at $5.10 each.

The company, based in Sterling, Va., plans to pay North an annual salary of $150,000 once the shares are sold and more money in subsequent years, according to the SEC filing. It said it will use the money from the stock issue to build offices and a factory and to hire a sales team.

The company sells protective vests through police and government contracts and has more than 850 active customers, according to the filing. It reported accumulated losses of about $400,000 for 1994 and 1995.

As protection to potential investors, SEC regulations require companies to depict their businesses in less than optimistic terms. In its filing, Guardian cautioned investors that the shares ``involve a high degree of risk'' due to its losses, competition in the body-armor business and other factors.

North was convicted in 1989 of aiding in the obstruction of Congress, accepting illegal gratuities and destroying documents related to the financing of anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua with proceeds from the sale of weapons to Iran. The convictions were overturned in 1990.

Fernandez was indicted in 1988 on charges relating to the Iran-Contra affair, but the indictment was dismissed in 1990.

LENGTH: Short :   43 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  (headshot) North.