TORONTO – The long-running fraud trial of three former Nortel executives enters its final phase today with closing arguments.

Ex-CEO Frank Dunn, ex-CFO Douglas Beatty and ex-controller Michael Gollogly have all pleaded not guilty to defrauding Nortel of $12.8 million in bonus payments in 2001 and 2003.

The men are also accused of falsifying the Ottawa-based technology company’s accounting statements.

It’s alleged they did so to show an inaccurate return of profitability that would trigger millions of dollars of bonuses for them, even though the company was struggling financially.

The defence is expected to argue that the Crown failed to prove its theory that the three men asked anyone to create false financial statements, or that a large-scale conspiracy existed among dozens of employees.

The Crown maintains that the men were involved in a deliberate book-cooking scheme that worked in their favour.

Nortel declared bankruptcy in Canada and the U.S. in early 2009.

Since then, the company has sold off US$3.2 billion of operating units — bringing the total value of the company’s sell off to US$7.7 billion. It is one of the biggest asset sales in Canadian history.

At its height, Nortel employed 95,000 people worldwide and was worth nearly $300 billion.

Closing arguments are expected to continue into Friday.