Tyco executive indicted day after resignation
The executive who headed the holding company that owns M/A-Com Wireless Systems and M/A-Com Private Radio Systems until his resignation on Monday was indicted yesterday on charges of evading $1 million in sales taxes on the purchase of $13 million in artwork during the past nine months.
L. Dennis Kozlowski resigned as chief executive of Tyco International, which, through its Tyco Electronics subsidiary, owns the M/A-Com divisions. The U.S. district attorney in New York who brought the charges said that Kozlowski conspired with art dealers and Tyco employees. According to the indictment, the nature of the conspiracy was to make it look as though paintings purchased in New York were shipped to Kozlowski’s office in Exeter, NH, thereby avoiding New York’s 8.25% sales tax.
During the past four years, Tyco paid Kozlowski $450 million in salary, stock and bonuses, an estimate from the district attorney’s office indicates.
Kozlowski’s attorney has described the indictment as an unproven case and nothing more than allegations.