Jury hears openings in WTC-related trial of Canadian man

NEW YORK (AP) — The Canadian owner of a company that won nearly $1 billion in contracts to provide steel to build the World Trade Center's tallest building and a sprawling transportation center sat quietly Tuesday as a prosecutor accused him of defrauding a program meant to boost the representation of minority and female workers in the historic rebuilding effort.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kan Nawaday told Manhattan federal court jurors that Larry Davis, 65, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, defrauded a program meant to benefit businesses owned by minorities and women by claiming the work was done by subcontractors who qualified for the program even though the work was actually done by his company and co-defendant, DCM Erectors Inc.

According to court papers, Davis from 2009 through 2012 caused false payroll records to be submitted for the project.