Two Consent to SEC Judgment in Cable-TV Case

IRVINE —  A lawyer and a businessman accused of bilking investors of $4.6 million in cable-TV ventures have been ordered to stop violating securities registration and antifraud laws, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday.

Arthur A. Graves and Gregory P. Moeller, both of Irvine, admit no liability in consenting to the judgments against them. The order also applies to their defunct businesses, Broadcast Associates-I, Broadcast Acquisitions Inc. and Broadcast Holdings Inc., all in Irvine.

The SEC charged in a 1995 complaint that the two men engaged in a scheme to sell unregistered securities in wireless cable ventures through the use of false and misleading statements.

The statements made during the 27 months the scheme operated included unsupported predictions that the ventures would return 223% to 900% within one to three years, the SEC alleged.

The men sold partnership interests to 300 investors in 37 states to raise funds to buy wireless systems. But, the SEC charged, they spent the money on sales commissions, operational expenses, options to acquire wireless systems and salaries and fees for Graves and Moeller.

The two men agreed to repay $4.6 million, but the SEC waived the repayment because the pair had shown that they were broke.

U.S. Dist. Judge William J. Rea in Los Angeles issued the order last month based on the consent agreement, but the federal agency didn’t divulge the information until Wednesday.