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Bernie Ebbers got 25 years. Rigas got 15 years. Now Denny Kozlowski is getting 8-1/3 to 25 years.

L. Dennis Kozlowski, whose $6,000 shower curtain and $15,000 umbrella stand made him a symbol of corporate greed, and his former top deputy Mark Swartz were sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison for looting Tyco International Ltd.

Justice Michael Obus sentenced the pair today in state Supreme Court in New York and rejected their request to remain free pending appeals. He ordered them to pay a total of $134.3 million in restitution.

Kozlowski, 58, the former Tyco chief executive, and Swartz, 45, the former chief financial officer, were convicted in June of 22 felonies each. Their crimes included a dozen counts each of grand larceny, the most serious crime, for awarding themselves and others more than $150 million in unauthorized bonuses and misusing Tyco loan programs.

``The heart of this case is basic larceny,'' Obus said. He called the crimes ``extremely serious charges.'' Kozlowski and Swartz were also convicted of defrauding shareholders of more than $400 million.
Obus distinguished the case from those involving corporate scandals at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. ``This is not about any other case,'' he said.

WorldCom and Enron filed and largest and second-largest bankruptcies in U.S. history, respectively, after their CEOs were ousted amid claims of accounting fraud. Tyco averted bankruptcy and has a market value of $59.3 billion.

Next up, Lay and Skilling.

Posted by edelfenbein at September 19, 2005 2:22 PM