Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION
PURSUANT TO 17 CFR 240.13a-14
PROMULGATED UNDER
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Stephen J. Benedetti, certify that:
1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of
Merit Securities Corporation;
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any
untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a
material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period
covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
financial information included in this report, fairly
present in all material respects the financial condition,
results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The registrant's other certifying officer and I are
responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and we have:
(a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
within those entities, particularly during the period in
which this quarterly report is being prepared;
(b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
controls and procedures and presented in this report our
conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
controls and procedures as of the end of the period
covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(c) disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
internal control over financial reporting that occurred
during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the
registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
annual report) that has materially affected, or is
reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's
internal control of financial reporting; and
5. The registrant's other certifying officer and I have
disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
control over financial reporting, to the registrant's
auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board
of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
function):
(a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in
the design or operation of internal control over financial
reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and
report financial information; and
(b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
management or other employees who have a significant role
in the registrant's internal control over financial
reporting.
Dated: May 21, 2004 By: /s/ Stephen J. Benedetti
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Stephen J. Benedetti
Principal Executive Officer
I