Judge Vacates Conviction In World Trade Center Fraud Case

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — A federal judge vacated the conviction of a construction executive who had previously been found guilty of fraud while working on rebuilding the One World Trade Center site in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska vacated on Thursday a jury's finding from last year that Canadian Larry Davis had fraudulently acquired contracts to work on multiple construction projects at the site of the World Trade Center. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Davis, the CEO of DCM Erectors, was convicted of fraud a year ago by a Manhattan jury. Prosecutors said at his trial last year that Davis had illegally acquired nearly a billion dollars in construction contracts on or near the One World Trade Center construction site in the wake of the 2001 attacks. According to authorities, Davis had cashed in on contracts and payments meant to fund a program that would improve diversity on construction sites by employing women- and minority-owned businesses. The contracts that Davis was granted required him to hire businesses owned by women and minorities as subcontractors.

Last year, Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, applauded Davis's conviction. He said at the time that "the construction work awarded to Davis came with the obligation to employ minority and women-owned businesses, an obligation that Davis shirked and then lied about."

The finding was vacated on Thursday.

"[N]o reasonable jury could have found defendants guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on a theory of economic harm," Preska wrote in her judgement, according to Law360, which first reported the news.

"We are very pleased and grateful that the Court arrived at a just decision in this case," Davis's attorney said in a statement. "We are also very happy for Larry Davis and hope he can now continue with his contributions to New York City and the United States by lending his unique skills to the skyscraper and steel construction industry as he did during his over thirty year career prior to this case."

It was not immediately clear how federal prosecutors would proceed in the case.

"We are reviewing the opinion and evaluating our options," a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said in an email to Patch.

Lead image credit: Mario Tama / Staff / Getty Images News.