The president of an investment banking company has been charged with assaulting a flight attendant after being refused alcoholic drinks and then defecating on a service cart in the first-class cabin. The lawyer for the executive, Gerard Finneran, said his client denies the charges. Finneran, president of TCW Americas Development Inc., was arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn Monday after the incident Friday on a United Airlines flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to New York. Finneran, 58, of Greenwich, Connecticut, is charged with intentionally assaulting and intimidating a flight attendant and interfering with the performance of an attendant. Finneran was released on a $100,000 personal recognizance bond. "He vigorously denies the allegations and anticipates an early and favorable disposition of the matter," Finneran's attorney, John Finnegan said, reading from a prepared statement. He refused to comment further. Finneran is a former executive with Citicorp and Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. and is considered an expert in Third World debt. While at Citibank he managed the U.S. Corporate Finance Division and the Latin American and Canadian investment banking activities. TCW is an affiliate of Los Angeles-based Trust Co. of the West. It is the general partner of TCW Americas Development Association L.P., a funds invested in Latin American debt and equities. According to the complaint, Finneran began drinking alcoholic beverages before the flight took off and continued during the flight. Prosecutors alleged that the crew initially served him beverages but he eventually started "getting up and serving alcoholic beverages to himself." When members of the crew told him to stop, he demanded they serve him more drinks, and when one male attendant refused, Finneran allegedly threatened to "bust his ass," the complaint said. At the same time, another male attendant had been notified a passenger was ill and went to the cockpit to get a first aid kit. On his way back to the passenger, Finneran allegedly harassed the attendant and delayed him from helping the sick passenger. Prosecutors alleged that at another point in the flight, Finneran approached a female flight attendant and demanded that she serve him a drink. When she refused, he allegedly pushed her by placing both hands on her chest, causing her to fall into one of the seats on the plane. A male flight attendant then entered the first-class section of the plane and saw Finneran "with his pants and underwear down defecating on a service cart used by the flight crew," the complaint said. "Finneran then used linen napkins as toilet paper and wiped his hands on various service counters and service implements used by the crew," the complaint alleged. "Finneran also tracked feces throughout the aircraft." In response, the captain of the flight, which was four hours from New York, suspended all food and beverage service due to the possibility of an infectious condition. --- Top Ten "Gerard Finneran Excuses" As presented on the 10/27/95 broadcast of LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN 10. Misread brochure about advantages of first class 9. Confused when steward asked for headset deposit 8. Went nuts after learning they were out of chicken almondine 7. Though he heard somebody yell, "We're going to crash!" and that was just something he always wanted to do before he died 6. Hoping to impress aloof blonde English woman in 2-D 5. Had already used airphone to call everyone he knew 4. You try drinking for 14 hours and see if you can tell the difference between a food cart and a bathroom 3. All part of an elaborate plan to intimidate the real killers 2. His ass wouldn't fit in the overhead compartment 1. "Oh, like you've never done it"