Torrance Files Suit to Recoup Funds : Courts: Six banking firms and four individuals are accused of conspiring to defraud the city of $6.2 million.

Six investment and banking firms and four individuals associated with convicted money manager Steven D. Wymer are being sued by the city of Torrance in an attempt to recover $6.2 million lost in an investment scandal.

Wymer, 44, who once managed $1.2 billion through his Newport Beach investment company, pleaded guilty in September to defrauding millions of dollars from dozens of government agencies. Ordered to pay $209 million in restitution, Wymer faces up to 100 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 15.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles named Greenwich Capital Markets Inc.; Sanwa BGK Treasury Securities Co. and its limited partnership, Sanwa BGK Securities Co.; DLO Securities Inc.; Barrington Trading Co.; Carroll, McEntee & McGinley Inc.; and Security Pacific National Trust Co.

Individual defendants include DLO Securities President Daniel Lee Osborn and Greenwich employees Kimberly D. Goodman, Michael Howe and David Glen.

The suit alleges violations of state and federal security laws and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which allows the city to seek triple damages for its losses, attorneys say. It accuses the defendants of negligence and of conspiring with Wymer in a massive scheme to defraud the city of its investment.

According to the lawsuit, the scheme was carried out through a complicated series of transactions including the use of forged signatures on account applications and trading authorizations, the improper mixing of funds and securities with those of other clients and the creation of false account statements.

“These are individuals that were doing business with Mr. Wymer and it is our contention that as a result of some of their actions or inaction, the city suffered losses of approximately $6 million,” said Ronald T. Pohl, Torrance’s acting city attorney. “A large amount of taxpayer money was taken and we’re trying to get it back.”

The lawsuit is the city’s third court attempt to recoup its investment. Last month, Torrance sued the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche for failing to warn city officials about Wymer.

And earlier this year, the city filed a lawsuit against Wymer in federal court. That suit, however, is “a kind of dead duck,” Pohl said, because Wymer has declared bankruptcy and is soon to be sentenced to prison.