From The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Delphi Corp. said it held "mini-hearings" to look into possible wrongdoing by employees as part of an internal investigation into accounting fraud, a senior lawyer for the company said Tuesday.

Joseph Papelian, a deputy general counsel at Delphi, said the hearings, overseen by Delphi's audit committee, offered "due process" for employees who were suspected of accounting fraud. The reviews, conducted during the fall of 2004 and early 2005, have not previously been disclosed.

Papelian said the hearings were for "employees who were at risk" and to clear people of suspicion.

The disclosure came at a panel discussion of corporate fraud held at the University of Detroit Mercy Law School. The experts on hand included many of the key investigators in the Delphi case, including an FBI agent, prosecutors, and Delphi's defense attorney and accountant.

Panel members also disclosed the pitfalls faced by corporate executives who face questions about their conduct -- first from their employers and later from federal investigators.

The ramifications of the accounting investigations at Delphi still are being felt. Last week, a federal judge granted preliminary approval to a settlement worth as much as $342.1 million to resolve two class-action lawsuits.

Delphi's audit committee spent millions on an internal investigation led by Washington-law firm Wilmer Cutler, which interviewed dozens of employees. The results of that investigation were turned over to the SEC and Justice Department.

In October, the SEC filed civil fraud charges against Delphi and nine former executives including former CEO JT Battenberg. Delphi settled the case.