14 Financial Associates of Wymer Sued by Orange
Fourteen banking and investment associates of convicted money manager Steven D. Wymer have been sued by the city of Orange in an attempt to recover $7 million lost when Wymer defrauded the city.
Investment adviser Wymer pleaded guilty in September to engineering a giant fraud involving small government agencies in what federal prosecutors termed “one of the most significant and financially devastating” cases of fraud.
Wymer, 44, who once managed $1.2 billion through his Newport Beach investment company, was ordered to pay $209 million in restitution. He faces up to 100 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 15.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles named DLO Securities Inc., Barrington Trading Co., Carroll McEntee & McGinley Inc., Greenwich Capital Markets Inc., Sanwa-BGK Securities Co. L.P., Sanwa-BKG Treasury Securities Co., Security Pacific National Trust Co. in New York, Capital Asset Management Corp. in Colorado, Michael Howe, David Glenn, Daniel L. Osborn, Steven Ronlov, Susan Renton and Tom Reily.
The suit alleges violations of federal and state security laws, and the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, as well as common law fraud and negligence.
A city spokesman said the lawsuit is based on information recently acquired through the continuing investigation into Wymer’s business practices.
The suit is in addition to another lawsuit filed by the city last April against Wymer and his companies, which also seeks $7 million and treble damages.
“The latest suit is part of the city’s commitment to recover the entire $7 million from anyone who participated with Wymer and his companies, Denman & Co. and ITM,” Orange Mayor Gene Beyer said in a written statement.
Wymer said he lost huge sums of money through bad investments, then tried to hide the losses from clients and federal authorities by forging documents. He promised his clients--mostly municipalities seeking a safe place to invest extra cash--that they would make huge returns on their investments.
The Securities and Exchange Commission uncovered Wymer’s fraud, which amounted to a giant Ponzi scheme, last fall. He was arrested in December, 1991, and charged with 30 counts of various felonies.
