Suit Claims 17 Tried to Bankrupt Businessman : San Pedro: Stephen Podesta, James N. Birakos and Richard Skaggs once were partners. A civil suit demonstrates that their relations have gone from sour to bitter.

A former official of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, a prominent San Pedro developer and the Bank of San Pedro have been accused in a civil lawsuit of illegally conspiring to drive a local businessman into bankruptcy.

The wide-ranging lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, names developer Stephen Podesta and former AQMD media liaison James N. Birakos among a total of 17 defendants. The suit charges all of them with fraud, corruption and racketeering.

Chiefly, the suit alleges that Birakos, Podesta and the others waged a three-year campaign of questionable business tactics--including a check forgery and the use of spies to infiltrate the business of the plaintiffs, Richard and Roberta Skaggs of San Pedro.

Podesta could not be reached for comment. However, Birakos and Lance Oak, the president of the bank, denied the allegations in the suit.

Birakos, moreover, charged that it was Skaggs--not he--who engaged in unfair and illegal business tactics.

“His tactics thus far have been groundless and fruitless, and he continues to harass and aggravate,” Birakos said. “Not only do I deny (the suit’s allegations), I think they are absolutely ludicrous, without any foundation, and they are the desperate actions of a desperate man.”

The suit claims damages that “may be millions of dollars.” It alleges all 17 defendants violated the federal Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, a statute initially intended to combat organized crime.

Skaggs and his wife have also filed complaints with the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission, although those agencies have declined to say whether they have opened criminal investigations into the matter.

In 1987, Skaggs says, he and his wife joined with Podesta and Birakos to market a fuel additive that the couple say reduces air pollution. Richard Skaggs, a former independent filmmaker who once made a documentary about acid rain, has been trying to market and distribute the product for several years.

The company they formed is called Renergy International, which Birakos still heads. The venture was financed by Podesta, a major shareholder and former director of the Bank of San Pedro, with a $75,000 loan from the bank.

But the partnership quickly soured. Skaggs alleges he was forced out of Renergy; when he left, he began to market the fuel additive under the name of his own company, Omstar Products. That company went bankrupt last year.

The additive has been used by American President Lines, a shipping company, and also by Hudson General Corp., which operates shuttle services at Los Angeles International Airport. In addition, Birakos said, Renergy is selling the product in a number of countries, including Spain, Greece, Kenya and Taiwan.

Among other points, Skaggs’ lawsuit charges:

* That Birakos forged Skaggs’ signature on a $3,000 check, made out to Birakos, and that Podesta ordered a teller at the Bank of San Pedro to cash the check. The suit says that when Skaggs--who at the time was still involved with Renergy--demanded that Podesta take action, the bank director refused to do so.

Birakos says there was no forgery and that Skaggs authorized him to sign the check.

* That during their partnership, Birakos, Podesta and two other defendants tried to pressure Skaggs into turning over his rights to market the fuel additive. Skaggs says he obtained the rights to the product from its manufacturer before the formation of Renergy.

* That once the two sides split and became competitors, Birakos, Podesta and others affiliated with Renergy tried to steal Skaggs’ customers through “commercial espionage and infiltration” in which they sent people who pretended to be potential customers to the Omstar offices.

Birakos counters that it was Skaggs who engaged in such tactics; he said Skaggs once posed as a Renergy employee and even instructed the post office to send Renergy’s mail to the Omstar offices.

* That Birakos “employed many outright lies” in trying to lure Omstar’s customers to Renergy, even after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge issued a restraining order that instructed the two sides not to interfere with one another’s businesses.

In an interview Birakos said: “We have not taken one customer from Mr. Skaggs. We have purposely avoided any contact with people who have worked with him.”

* That Renergy, represented by Birakos and its lawyer, conspired to sabotage government tests on the Omstar product by sending letters that contained falsehoods to officials at the California Air Resources Board.

* That the bank enabled the conspiracy to continue by financing Renergy and by failing to require the company to repay the $75,000 loan. The suit said support from the bank permitted Renergy to pay the rent on “large, modern offices in the Bank of San Pedro building, wherein clients and potential distributors . . . received the impression . . . that defendant Renergy was a prosperous company, with full support of the defendant bank.”

The loan, which was guaranteed by Podesta, was among four loans that were criticized by federal regulators in 1988. Oak, the bank president, said the loan has been paid back and that the bank has nothing to do with the fuel additive company.

Oak also said the bank--which does not own the downtown San Pedro building where it has its main offices--had nothing to do with Renergy’s rental agreement.