San Diego

A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal by Nancy Hoover Hunter, the second-in-command at the fraud-ridden J. David & Co. investment firm, and ordered her to stand trial for her alleged role in the investment scheme.

Hoover, the former mayor of Del Mar who was the live-in companion of the firm’s founder, J. David (Jerry) Dominelli, had asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss a 234-count indictment against her on the grounds that the prosecutor who sought the indictment from a federal grand jury in San Diego had not been admitted to practice in the federal district court here.

A three-judge panel dismissed Hoover’s appeal without comment in a ruling Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Nancy Worthington said.

Hoover is scheduled to appear Monday before U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gilliam, who may set a trial date then.

Hoover was indicted in November, 1986, on 234 counts of fraud, conspiracy and income tax evasion stemming from her work at the firm. She was charged again last week with an additional 56 counts of conspiracy and using the mails to sell unregistered securities. The appeal related only to the 1986 indictment.