Two Salesmen Sued Over Alleged Ponzi Scheme : Courts: Pair worked for Steven D. Wymer, whose Newport Beach companies bilked cities of millions.

Two former salesmen for convicted swindler Steven D. Wymer’s municipal investment operation were sued by securities regulators Tuesday over their role in allegedly helping Wymer’s Newport Beach companies bilk $105 million from cities from Orange County to Iowa.

Former marketing director James A. Pearce, 49, of Newport Beach, and salesman Steen Ronlov, 50, of Northglenn, Colo., outside Denver, were accused of receiving a total of nearly $2.3 million in ill-gotten gains.

Wymer pleaded guilty three years ago to nine counts of racketeering, securities fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and obstruction of justice in what federal officials said then was “one of the most significant and financially devastating cases of securities fraud ever perpetrated on American citizens and investors.”

He currently is serving a prison term of 14 years, seven months.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed the lawsuit Tuesday, said Ronlov settled immediately by agreeing to stop violating securities laws and to repay $93,000 of nearly $1.7 million he is accused of collecting in perpetrating the fraud.

Ronlov, who didn’t admit committing any fraud, was accused of soliciting customers despite knowing that Wymer would misappropriate those clients’ funds, and of helping Wymer to conceal illegal acts.

The SEC still is negotiating with Pearce over a possible settlement, said James A Howell, an SEC staff attorney. Pearce is accused of wrongly pocketing $604,096 in undisclosed commissions and increased pay.

The lawsuit also accuses Pearce of filing false documents to conceal Wymer’s ownership in a company and of creating and distributing false marketing materials to fool investors.

Through his Wymer, Denman & Co. and Institutional Treasury Management Inc., Wymer promised cities and public agencies that he could safely invest their extra cash at high rates of return. He was believed to have managed as much at $1.2 billion in municipal investments.

But the operation was nothing more than an elaborate Ponzi scheme, authorities charged, as he paid off earlier investors with money he received from newer investors.

A federal criminal investigation continues into information that Wymer has provided as part of his plea agreement. The statute of limitations on criminal action runs out near the end of 1996.