Torrance Sues Auditing Firm
Torrance has filed a lawsuit against its former auditor, claiming that the accounting firm should have warned the city about problems it had with its former client, investment adviser Stephen D. Wymer.
Torrance lost $6.2 million in an investment scam tied to Wymer, who has pleaded guilty to securities fraud.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that Connecticut-based Deloitte & Touche severed its relationship with Wymer after discovering that the financier had falsified documents. That information should have been passed on to Torrance, which eventually invested its money with Wymer, city officials said.
The city is seeking $6.2 million to compensate for the money it lost, as well as legal fees.
Deloitte & Touche officials have declined comment. The firm’s three-year agreement to serve as the city’s accountants expired July 1, and Torrance has since contracted with another firm.
Torrance was notified last December that more than $6 million in city funds entrusted to Wymer was missing.
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