despite his property being sold off, Supreme Court heard yesterday.

He even complained to one of the developers buying up his family estate, the trial of lawyer Larry Madeiros was told.

Davis, an alcoholic when he inherited the 71 acre Sleepy Hollow estate in Hamilton Parish, gave Madeiros power to handle his finances.

Madeiros is now accused of siphoning off more than $500,000.

Yesterday developer Stanford Richardson, who bought at least four of the lots, told how Davis came to see him when they both happened to be in Florida.

This was in March, 1990, around the time Davis cut ties with Madeiros. "He drove up and said he wanted to talk to me,'' Richardson told the jury.

"He was telling me he had no money left and wasn't able to finish the development of his property.

"He appeared upset, very upset. He asked me if I had paid for the lots I had bought, and I told him I had. He was telling me there was no money left.'' Husband and wife Victor and Donna Maiato told the court how their construction firm, Maiato Enterprises, did renovation and building work at Sleepy Hollow for Madeiros.

They stopped working after Madeiros ran up an unpaid bill, of which $322,000 is still owed, the court heard.

Former Senator Arnott Jackson told how he lent Madeiros $500,000 for Sleepy Hollow renovations, but had to take legal action to get his money back.

Then Cynthia Perinchief, former book-keeper for Madeiros, went through files on Davis' accounts.

Madeiros told her to take "legal fees'' out of Davis' trust account even when there were no bills to explain them, she said.

No other client's account normally operated like this, she said.

But she said she had not been concerned because she always let her boss know what the balance was.

Davis never asked for a statement of his account, she said. Davis' daughter did not express concern about his finances either, she added.

Madeiros, of Harbour Road, Paget, denies stealing $506,000 from Davis between 1987 and 1989, and fraudulently disposing of property.