Dennis Kozlowski, former CEO of Tyco, and Mark Swartz, former CFO were convicted yesterday for charges of fraud, conspiracy and grand larceny.
“Today is a day of disappointment, but there’s still hope,” said Stephen Kaufman, Kozlowski’s attorney. “We look forward to the appeal, and we have confidence in that appeal.”
Kozlowski and former Tyco finance chief Mark H. Swartz joined a string of executives convicted in recent years in high-profile corporate wrongdoing cases, among them former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers and Adelphia Communications Corp. founder John Rigas and his son, Timothy.
Richard Scrushy, founder and former chief executive at HealthSouth Corp., is on trial on fraud charges and awaiting a jury verdict in federal court in Birmingham, Ala. And former Enron Corp. executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are to go on trial early next year.
Kozlowski and Swartz are accused of stealing $156 million from Tyco by means of bonuses that were not authorized and bogus company loans. They got another $425 after falsely inflating the price of the company’s stock and selling it.
“The size of the larceny and the fraud were huge, and we put a lot of effort into it,” said Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. “Nobody is above the law, no matter how high up they are, or how much money they have.”
Sentencing has been scheduled for August 2nd by Justice Michael Obus. Both of the defendants face between 15 and 30 years in prison. Both were free on bail.
Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
