ANDERSON, S.C. - HomeGold's bankruptcy trustee has filed a lawsuit seeking to recover millions lost by investors against company officers, accusing them of withholding the truth about the high risk of junk bonds they sold to retirees and others.

Court-appointed trustee Ralph McCullough filed suit Friday in U.S. District Court in Anderson Friday against 17 officers and board members, the estate of a deceased officer and Raymond James and Associates, an investment banking firm that advised HomeGold.

About 8,000 South Carolinians lost $275 million when HomeGold, the parent company of Carolina Investors, filed for bankruptcy protection in March.

The suit follows one McCullough filed Thursday against two companies formed by Ronnie Sheppard shortly after he resigned in late 2002 as HomeGold's president. That lawsuit seeks $120 million in damages.

"It's about time. I believe the people who did this need to pay," said Anderson retiree Sam Albertson, who invested $10,000 in Carolina Investors two weeks before the company closed in late March.

Defendants in the lawsuit filed Friday include former Carolina Investors Chairman Earle E. Morris Jr., a former state lieutenant governor and comptroller general; Carolina Investors board member Don Bobo, a Pickens businessman who was the largest individual depositor with $2.1 million invested; and Danny R. Sharpe, a Pickens businessman and Pickens County School Board member.

Carolina Investors President Larry Owen, who joined the Pickens-based unsecured investments company in 1970 and became president in 2000, and his wife, Ann Owen, a senior vice president, also are named as defendants.

HomeGold officers and directors listed as defendants in the lawsuit include former chairman and president Ronald J. Sheppard, John M. "Jack" Sterling Jr., and the estate of Forest E. Ferrel, HomeGold's final president and chief executive officer who died in August.

The company's managing director of investment banking and financial services group co-director, Jan Sirota, is listed as an individual defendant.

"We continue to hope that the responsible parties can overcome their denial and pay back what was taken and end the agony for both sides," said Greenville attorney Johnny Hagins, who leads the legal team bankruptcy plan McCullough has assembled to recover money for investors.

Investors can learn more about the lawsuits at an informal informational meeting for Carolina Investors depositors Tuesday in Greenville.

The $275 million in bonds outstanding with HomeGold's bankruptcy has grown with interest to a $300 million debt.

The suit charges the officers and directors with unfair trade practices which, if proven, allow triple damages, potentially raising the award to $900 million. The suit also seeks punitive damages.