Dewey & LeBoeuf Former Execs Seek Dismissal On Criminal Charges

Former Dewey & LeBoeuf executives, charged with misleading lenders and bond investors in the economic unraveling of the once-lauded firm, have asked that the accusations be dismissed because they intended to pay funds back, but had failed to grasp “complex, arcane and nuanced accounting rules.” Prosecutors are using the defendants as “scapegoats,” the trio claimed in filings last week. Steven Davis, Dewey’s former chairman, Stephen DiCarmine, the firm’s former executive director, and Joel Sanders, the former chief financial officer – along with former junior employee Zachary Warren – are facing a 106-count indictment. They’re accused of cooking the firm’s books for years, claims backed up by a string of e-mail chains discussing misleading accounting strategies.