Tyco defends chief's wife's £1m bash

WHILE the £1m Sardinian birthday party for the wife of Tyco ex-chairman Dennis Kozlowski could appear to be the height of vulgar corporate excess, the firm's former finance chief says it was a valuable business opportunity and justified the company picking up half the tab.

'The only real common interest we had was business,' Mark Swartz told a New York court. 'When we sat or stood around, we talked about what was happening at the company.'

Swartz is accused with Kozlowski of looting Tyco of more than $600m (£321m). The pair deny grand larceny, securities fraud, enterprise corruption and falsifying records.

Swartz said he and his boss approved a $3.5bn debt offering at the event, which featured a life-sized ice sculpture of Michelangelo's David with vodka flowing from its penis.

Swartz felt it was only fair for Tyco to pay but said: 'I believed Tyco shouldn't pay the full amount because not all of the guests were Tyco-related.'

Swartz also denied that he and Kozlowski abused loan programmes and bonus payments, which he says all had board approval.