NEW YORK (Reuters) - Less than a month after writing that he did not want to cook the books anymore, but facing a deadline to show lenders that Dewey & LeBoeuf had enough cash, the law firms top finance executive emailed a colleague that he came up with a big one, according to investigators. You always do in the last hours, the law firms executive director Stephen DiCarmine replied to the December 29, 2008 email from chief financial officer Joel Sanders, according to investigators. Thats why we get the extra 10 or 20% bonus. The communications and other evidence are the basis of criminal and civil charges announced in New York on Thursday in which the law firms former leaders are accused of accounting gimmicks and fraud to cheat banks and investors in a failed attempt to keep their prestigious law firm alive. Dewey & LeBoeuf once had as many as 1,400 lawyers, before going bankrupt in May 2012. Its collapse is the largest of a U.S. law firm, costing thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of estimated losses for banks, lenders and investors. The 106-count indictment from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. charges former Dewey & LeBoeuf chairman Steven Davis, 60, DiCarmine, 57, and Sanders, 55, with several dozen felonies each, including grand larceny, securities fraud and falsifying business records. Former client relations manager Zachary Warren, 29, was also criminally charged with helping to start the fraud and cover up its early stages. All four men pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Manhattan criminal court, which they entered in handcuffs. Davis was carrying a paperback book while DiCarmine and Sanders, who live in Florida, appeared to have suntans. Davis lives in London, England, and agreed to travel restrictions. Bail was set on Thursday at $2 million for Davis, DiCarmine and Sanders, and $200,000 for Warren. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Peirce Moser told State Supreme Court Justice Robert Stolz that the men acted out of a shocking mix of greed and hubris. Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud lawsuit against five former Dewey & LeBoeuf officials: Davis, DiCarmine, Sanders, finance director Frank Canellas, 34, and controller Thomas Mullikin, 43, for cheating 13 insurers in a $150 million bond offering in 2010. At a press conference, Vance said Deweys finance department ran a blatant accounting fraud and deceit at the direction of the firms top management, and that officials gave false information to the law firms auditor, Ernst & Young. Ernst & Young spokeswoman Amy Call Well declined to comment. Vance said this went on even as Davis was authorizing generous salaries and bonuses for top lieutenants, while many other law firm employees were seeing their pay go down. Seven people, whose names have not been publicly disclosed, have already pleaded guilty in the case, and the investigation is continuing, Vance said. DEFENSE LAWYERS SEE SCAPEGOATING Dewey & LeBoeuf was formed in a 2007 merger of two New York law firms, Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. Prosecutors said the evidence shows attempts to head off the firms possible collapse, as it found itself unable to cut costs fast enough to combat a plunge in revenue and mounting debt following the financial crisis. Many of the problems arose from the big pay packages that had been guaranteed to dozens of partners, to a degree atypical in the legal industry. These payouts often went to partners who did not produce enough revenue to justify them, spurring resentment and eventually mass defections from partners who were missing out. The Dewey in the firms name was Thomas Dewey, the former New York governor and Republican presidential candidate. Vance unveiled grand larceny, fraud and other felony charges (read the indictment static.reuters/resources/media/editorial/20140306/Indictment.pdf) against former chairman Steven Davis, 60, former executive director Stephen DiCarmine, 57, and former chief financial officer Joel Sanders, 55. A fourth defendant, client relations manager Zachary Warren, 29, was also criminally charged (read the indictment static.reuters/resources/media/editorial/20140306/Indictment2.pdf) Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges (read the complaint static.reuters/resources/media/editorial/20140306/SECcomplaint-3-6-14.pdf) against Davis, DiCarmine, Sanders and two other former Dewey officials, finance director Frank Canellas, 34, and controller Thomas Mullikin, 43, saying they misled investors in a 2010 bond offering. Elkan Abramowitz, a lawyer for Davis, said his clients actions as chairman were taken in good faith in an effort to make the firm a success. DiCarmines and Sanders respective lawyers, Austin Campriello and Edward Little, said the charges reflect a bid by prosecutors to find a scapegoat for the law firms collapse. Warrens lawyer, Steve Hyman, declined to comment. Lawyers for Canellas and Mullikin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. WE NEED TO HIDE THIS Investigators said the fraud began in late 2008, when Dewey executives began misrepresenting the law firms compliance with cash flow and other loan covenants. Prosecutors accused Davis, DiCarmine and Sanders of covering their tracks by misclassifying revenue and expenses to make Deweys books look better, and trying to backdate checks. The men were also accused by Vance of having stolen nearly $200 million from 13 insurers and two financial institutions. Evidence included a note from Sanders to two employees after he had learned in 2011 that Dewey did not write off millions of dollars of a troubled clients receivables. We need to hide this actually writing it off, Sanders allegedly wrote, according to Vance. The SEC case focuses on the regulators allegations that investors were misled about Deweys finances in marketing materials for the 2010 bond offering, which it said was conducted to alleviate the burden of its crushing debt. Among its evidence was a schedule of proposed cost cuts that was labeled Accounting Tricks, and DiCarmines hopes for a larger bonus. Well buy a ski house next. Just need to keep the ship afloat, DiCarmine wrote to Sanders, according to the SEC. Deweys lenders have included JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Incs private banking unit, Bank of America Corp and HSBC Holdings Plc. Investors were led to believe they were purchasing bonds issued by a prestigious law firm that had weathered the financial crisis and was poised for growth, SEC enforcement chief Andrew Ceresney said. He called the bond sale a desperate grasp for cash. The SEC is seeking civil fines and to recoup illegal gains. The cases are New York v. Davis et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, and SEC v. Davis et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 14-1528.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 04:17:08 +0000
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