A key prosecution witness in the Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP trial said that he never discussed improper accounting practices with Dewey’s former chairman, Steven Davis, one of three defendants accused by the Manhattan district attorney’s office of orchestrating a financial fraud at the now-defunct law firm, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The statements came during cross-examination of Dewey’s former finance director, Francis Canellas, who is on the stand as one of the government’s star witnesses. On cross-examination, an attorney for Davis solicited a series of answers aimed at distancing his client from the allegations. Upon questioning, Canellas told jurors that Davis had not instructed him to to make an improper accounting adjustment and that he had never told the chairman such adjustments were being made. Davis is accused, along with the firm’s then-CFO and former executive director, of hiding the true nature of Dewey’s finances from its banks, auditors and creditors. The three deny wrongdoing.
