Defense Rests in Case of Ex-Tyco Executives

Tyco International Ltd.’s former finance chief, Mark Swartz, rested his defense after eight days on the stand in a New York court where he and former Chief Executive L. Dennis Kozlowski have been on trial for fraud and larceny since January.

Prosecutors said they had no more evidence to present. The trial judge, Michael Obus, dismissed the jury until Monday, when summations will begin. He told lawyers he would like to give the case to the jury on May 31.

Swartz took the stand to defend himself against charges that he and Kozlowski conspired to loot Tyco of $150 million in unauthorized bonuses and other payments between 1999 and 2001. Kozlowski also testified in his own defense. Both men said they had no intent to defraud the company and that many of the bonuses had been reviewed with the board’s compensation committee.

“I never stole anything from Tyco,” Swartz said.

Kozlowski, 58, and Swartz, 44, also are charged with abusing company loan programs and defrauding shareholders by selling $575 million of stock while hiding Tyco’s financial condition.

This is their second trial after the first case ended in a mistrial in April 2004.

Swartz told jurors that he calculated bonuses based on the gains from large transactions, including initial public offerings and divestitures. Assistant Dist. Atty. Owen Heimer dwelt on the fact that no documents, including notes produced by Swartz when he was negotiating his severance package, mention the disputed bonuses.