Three Convicted of Fraud Settle With SEC

Two former executives for a Tustin company--imprisoned on fraud charges for operating a $24-million Ponzi scheme--have settled a civil action by securities regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that Joy L. Bouwkamp and Thomas M. Grahovac agreed not to violate securities laws. A court also ordered a convicted cohort, Joe L. Hallock, not to violate securities laws. The actions end legal proceedings against the operators of B.H. Rothchild & Gray, which was allegedly set up to recruit investors for a seafood supply company called Ocean Best Seafood. Last year, co-founders Bouwkamp, 64, of Oregon and Hallock, 47, of Santa Ana and former president Grahovac, 49, of Santa Ana drew prison terms ranging from 52 to 70 months. Bouwkamp and Hallock, who had pleaded guilty to securities, mail and wire fraud charges, were ordered to pay $5 million each. Grahovac, who pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud charges, was ordered to pay $2.5 million. The SEC said the trio, along with two salesmen, bilked 480 investors in the United States and Canada of $24 million, paying off earlier investors with money from later investors.