This week, former Tyco CFO Mark Swartz and former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, were both sentenced in the Tyco Fraud case. This past Monday, Sept. 19, Judge Obus handed down the sentences of 8 to 25 years in jail for both in a crowded New York courtroom. They also were fined $134 million returned to Tyco, Swartz $35 million; Kozlowski ...view middle of the document...
The whole investigation began in January 2002, when a bank source tipped off the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). SEC is a government agency responsible for enforcing regulation on publicly traded companies. The SEC found over $134 million dollars that Swartz and Kozlowski reportedly used for their own personal use, including throwing a $2 million birthday party for Kozlowski's wife.Other former corporate executives of other big businesses have been recently indicted including Bernie Ebbers who got 25 years for his role in the collapse of WorldCom. Adelphia founder and ex-CEO John Rigas received a sentence of 15 years.The government has been intervening in business a lot recently. Between the WorldCom case, Enron and recently Tyco, the SEC has been working overtime. Without the government's intervention, these scams could still be going on, and these corporate executives could have gotten away with more money.
