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Tyco's ex-chief urged tough sentence for embezzler
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 01 Jan 2003 15:32:55 -0500
------ Forwarded Message From: Anthony Baker <lists () thinkbigideas com> Organization: ThinkBigIdeas Reply-To: lists () thinkbigideas com Date: Wed, 01 Jan 2003 12:16:12 -0800 To: dave () farber net Subject: [Item] Tyco's ex-chief urged tough sentence for embezzler Dave, Did you see this? It's an AP piece that I would hope will get more play in the news. Don't condone embezzling, but it will be interesting to see how the double standard plays out... http://newsobserver.com/24hour/business/story/696802p-5158620c.html Tyco's ex-chief urged tough sentence for embezzler By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) - In the same year he allegedly began stealing up to $600 million from Tyco International Ltd., former chief executive Dennis Kozlowski urged a judge to throw the book at an employee who had embezzled a fraction of that amount from a subsidiary. "I view Mr. Shah's crime as particularly egregious," Kozlowski wrote to court officials in the 1995 case of Girish P. Shah, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday. "Not only did he steal from the stockholders of this Fortune 500 company, but he breached the fiduciary duty placed in him by the company and his supervisor(s)." Shah, an assistant controller at Tyco's Grinnell fire-protection division, had been charged in Houston with stealing $988,000 from the company over eight years. According to transcripts, Shah pleaded no contest in state court to overcharging customers and siphoning money from funds that went unclaimed by subcontractors. Though Shah was ready to repay $728,000 immediately and borrow money from relatives to repay most of the rest, Kozlowski urged a sentence of 30 years in prison. "I urge you to impress upon Mr. Shah and those others who commit similar crimes that wrongdoing of this nature against society is considered a grave matter by the Texas Court and will not be condoned," Kozlowski wrote seven years ago. Shah, then 41, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and served 3 1/2 before being paroled in 1999. Kozlowski and Tyco's then-chief financial officer, Mark Swartz, were charged in September with stealing $170 million from the company, partly by abusing bonus and loan programs, and reaping another $430 million through improper securities sales in a series of self-dealings that stretched back to 1995. They have pleaded innocent to enterprise corruption and grand larceny, each punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Shah, who lives in Sugar Land, Texas, said he never saw Kozlowski's letter. Shah said he began embezzling after seeing his superiors take advantage of unfair bonus plans and was not surprised to hear of the indictments against his former bosses. A report released Monday following a six month internal investigation found "aggressive accounting" methods in use since 1999 to puff up Tyco's profits. It also concluded that the organization lacked a commitment to proper "ethics, integrity, accounting and corporate governance." Asked to comment on Shah's case, a Kozlowski spokesman not identified by the Globe said: "There is an awfully big difference between someone embezzling funds and of someone being accused - merely accused, not convicted - of misuse of a loan program. Mr. Kozlowski stands by the statement that he is innocent of these things." Kozlowski's lawyer, Stephen Kaufman, did not return phone calls Tuesday. Three years after his release, Shah said he has held a few temporary jobs and done accounting work for his own clients. "I'm basically surviving," he said. ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To unsubscribe or update your address, click http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Tyco's ex-chief urged tough sentence for embezzler Dave Farber (Jan 01)