The "Real Producers"

What did Mel Brooks know and when did he know it?

TORONTO (AP) -- Two former Broadway producers have been convicted of participating in large-scale accounting fraud.

Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb co-founded one of the major Broadway theater companies in the 1990s. Livent produced hit shows such as ''Ragtime'' and ''Showboat.''

Ontario Superior Court Justice Mary Lou Benotto made the ruling Wednesday, calling the fraud widespread.

The Toronto-based company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1998 after the alleged fraud was revealed when former Walt Disney Co. President Michael Ovitz invested in Livent.

Prosecutors alleged the pair raised hundreds of millions in financing and that they misstated the financial position when they went public.

The pair were charged with two counts of fraud and one count of forgery.