Wymer Accepts Lifetime Ban From Investment Deals : Finance: The indicted adviser faces charges of defrauding Torrance and other cities of more than $100 million. He agreed to the SEC action without admitting guilt.

Indicted investment adviser Steven D. Wymer, who is accused of defrauding Torrance and other cities of more than $100 million, has consented to a federal order that bars him from the industry permanently, the Securities and Exchange Commission has announced.

The SEC said the Newport Beach resident agreed, as expected, to the administrative order without admitting or denying guilt. The order, which became effective Tuesday, bars him from associating with any broker, dealer, investment company, investment adviser or municipal securities dealer.

Torrance City Atty. Kenneth L. Nelson said he had anticipated the ban as part of the federal action against Wymer. “I think it’s appropriate,” Nelson said Wednesday.

The order stems from an administrative action brought June 9 by the SEC, which also filed a civil lawsuit against Wymer. The lawsuit was settled recently, and a court hearing early next year will determine how much Wymer owes in repayments or penalties to the SEC, said Michael F. Perlis, one of his attorneys.

“There’s not going to be anything left for anyone else after that,” Perlis said, referring to civil lawsuits that investors have filed against Wymer. “But the SEC has said its intention is to use the money for the benefit of customers who claim to have been defrauded.”

The SEC alleged in its administrative action that Wymer managed $1.2 billion in investments for 64 clients. Investigators are not certain, however, that he had that much money under his control.

Among those allegedly defrauded were the cities of Torrance, Orange, La Quinta and Palm Desert.

Torrance was notified in mid-December that more than $6 million in city funds entrusted to Wymer was missing. The city has since written the money off.

Lawyers for Torrance filed suit in U.S. District Court in March against Wymer and his financial empire, alleging he defrauded the city.

At Torrance City Hall, the scandal sparked a wide-ranging review of investment policies and practices, and the City Council has approved a series of changes in how the city invests its money. The city’s $68-million investment portfolio had been exclusively managed by City Treasurer Thomas C. Rupert, who took industrial leave in February for an undisclosed illness.

This week, the council approved the addition of an accountant in the Finance Department to monitor investment transactions. Finance Director Mary Giordano said the new position was created outside the treasurer’s office as part of “a whole separate series of checks and balances in the Finance Department.”

Giordano said the accountant’s $60,000 salary will come from contributions from the city departments whose funds the accountant will monitor.

Wymer, 43, is free on a $500,000 surety bond while awaiting trial in September on a 30-count federal indictment charging him with securities fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and lying to the SEC.

Meanwhile, a special team of SEC investigators has been auditing Wymer’s tangled financial records in a bid to determine how much money is actually missing and where it went.

“We are continuing to investigate whether or not action against any others is appropriate,” said Elaine Cacheris, the SEC regional administrator in Los Angeles. “We are attempting to locate assets belonging to Wymer. And we would obviously look into funds that may have been transferred to others improperly.”

Times staff writer Deborah Schoch and correspondent Mary Guthrie contributed to this report.