Former Dewey chairman reaches agreement with SEC to pay six-figure civil penalty
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Former Dewey & LeBoeuf chairman Steven Davis has reached an agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to pay a $130,000 civil penalty, the New York Law Journal reports.
Dewey & LeBoeuf went out of business in 2012. Law firm leaders were accused of misleading lenders and bond buyers about the firm’s financial condition.
The Aug. 31 SEC court filing also lists Francis Canellas, Dewey’s former finance director, and Thomas Mullikin, Dewey’s former controller. Canellas agreed to pay a civil penalty of $43,178, while Mullikin, Dewey’s former controller, who agreed to pay nearly $8,636.
A Manhattan jury in 2015 deadlocked on fraud and larceny charges brought against Davis, as well as Stephen DiCarmine, the firm’s chairman, and Joel Sanders, its executive director. Canellas and Mullikin had plea agreements in exchange for cooperating with the government, New York Law Journal reports.
In 2016 Davis reached a deferred prosecution agreement, which included him not practicing law for five years in New York and a lifetime ban on practicing before the SEC. The government agreed to drop the charges if he successfully completes the agreement.
Sanders and DiCarmine were retried together in 2017. A Manhattan jury found Sanders guilty of securities fraud, a scheme to defraud and conspiracy, and acquitted DiCarmine.
Sanders was sentenced to 750 hours of community service, and ordered him to pay a $1 million fine. New York Law Journal reports that Sanders is appealing the verdict, and has reached a partial settlement with the SEC. Earlier this year, DiCarmine agreed to pay a $35,000 civil penalty, according to the article.
See also:
ABA Journal: “How Dewey management’s rosy picture masked an ugly truth”