By Karen Freifeld and Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - Former top executives frombankrupt U.S. law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf were expected to becriminally charged on Thursday for "cooking the books" at theonce prestigious firm and defrauding investors and lenders, saida person familiar with the matter.
Charges were expected to be announced against former Deweychairman Steven Davis, 60, former executive director StephenDiCarmine, 57, and former chief financial officer Joel Sanders,55, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursdayfiled a related civil lawsuit against Davis, DiCarmine, Sandersand two former Dewey finance officials, finance director FrankCanellas and former controller Thomas Mullikin.
The SEC complaint accused the former executives ofdefrauding investors by misleading them about Dewey's financesin marketing materials for a $150 million bond offering in 2010.
According to the regulator, the Dewey officials"orchestrated and executed a bold and long-running accountingfraud intended to conceal the firm's precarious financialcondition".
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr has scheduled apress conference for 11 a.m. Thursday. SEC enforcement chiefAndrew Ceresney and FBI officials are expected to attend.
Vance has been investigating Dewey's collapse since April2012, when some Dewey & LeBoeuf partners asked him to examine"financial irregularities" at the firm.
Lawyers for Davis, DiCarmine, and Sanders did notimmediately return calls for comment.
A spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney declinedcomment. A lawyer for Canellas declined comment.
Dewey & LeBoeuf was formed in 2007 through a merger of DeweyBallantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. It became amegafirm with more than 1,400 lawyers around the world.
In May 2012 it sought bankruptcy protection, becoming thelargest U.S. law firm to do so. The firm collapsed after lawyersleft over disputes over unpaid compensation and questions aboutthe firm's financial health.
At the time, Dewey's lenders were led by JPMorgan Chase & Co and also included Citigroup Inc's private bankingunit, Bank of America Corp and HSBC Holdings Plc.