Judge Refuses to Increase Bail in Wymer Case
A federal judge Friday refused to increase the bail for Newport Beach investment adviser Steven D. Wymer but told probation officials “to be all over him like a cheap suit” to prevent Wymer from fleeing once he is released.
The 43-year-old money manager, who has pleaded not guilty to defrauding clients of $113 million, will probably be released from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles next week, his attorneys said. But Wymer will be required to wear a monitor and will be under de facto house arrest at his Newport Beach home.
U.S. District Judge Richard A. Gadbois had set bail at $600,000 for the multimillionaire Fullerton native, and Wymer’s parents, uncle and two friends have pledged their five homes to guarantee his appearance at trial.
But prosecutors asked the judge Friday to raise the bail to $10 million to ensure that Wymer does not run with hidden client money.
Prosecutors alleged that Wymer has liquidated $2 million since the Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating him in October and that he may have millions more stashed in bank accounts that the government has not found.
Wymer’s attorneys say everything their client owns has been frozen or seized by the government.
The judge also spurned a request by prosecutors to make Wymer declare his assets under penalty of perjury as a condition of bail.
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