Defence says Drabinsky couldn't have committed Livent fraud

A defence lawyer for the theatre impresarios charged with cooking Livent's books says at least one of the duo didn't have the time or know-how to pull off such a scheme.

Lawyer David Roebuck says Garth Drabinsky was too busy running Livent's booming business, which included such stage hits as Phantom of the Opera, to participate in a fraud.

Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb have pleaded not guilty to bilking investors and banks out of as much as $500 million by fraudulently misstating Livent's value.

In closing arguments Wednesday, Roebuck said the documents the prosecution is relying on need to be interpreted in the proper context.

Roebuck said the documents are not evidence of a complex scheme masterminded by Drabinsky and Gottlieb, as the Crown suggests.

On Tuesday, the prosecution argued that the defence theory that Drabinsky and Gottlieb were somehow victims of an intricate conspiracy to frame them is simply absurd.