Art Dealer Testifies in Tyco Trial

NEW YORK—NEW YORK - L. Dennis Kozlowski, Tyco International Ltd.'s former chief executive, and his wife, Karen, bought millions of dollars of artwork for a Manhattan apartment in 2001, some after less than an hour's consideration, an art dealer testified Monday.

Under questioning from prosecutors, Christine A. Berry, a one-time art dealer at Fine Collections Management in New York, said Dennis Kozlowski bought paintings valued at more than $14 million with her assistance on three separate occasions in 2001, including oil paintings by Impressionist masters Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet.

In each case, the invoices for the paintings were sent to Tyco's offices in New Hampshire, she said. Prosecutors have argued that Kozlowski and Mark H. Swartz, the Bermuda conglomerate's former chief financial officer, improperly used the company's so-called Key Employee Loan Program as a personal line of credit, including loans by Kozlowski to buy artwork. The program's original purpose was to lend money to executives to cover taxes on the vesting of restricted shares.

"Karen didn't really care about big names," said Berry, who now works at an art gallery in Manhattan. "Dennis was interested in some high-end names." Kozlowski, 58 years old, and Swartz, 44, are on trial in New York State Supreme Court, facing charges of grand larceny, securities fraud and other crimes in connection with giant bonuses and other compensation they received while working as Tyco's top executives.

They each face up to 25 years in prison on the most serious charge of grand larceny. They have denied wrongdoing. Their first trial ended in a mistrial last year.

On Monday, Berry said she visited the Richard Green Gallery in London with Kozlowski and his wife in August 2001. The couple agreed to purchase three paintings by William Adolphe Bouguereau, John Atkinson Grimshaw and Sir Alfred Munnings for $1.975 million.

Before the purchase was finalized, Berry said she offered to do additional research on how much similar paintings or works by those artists had sold for in order to make sure the couple were paying a fair price. They declined, she said.

Knowing Kozlowski and his wife shared an interest in Mediterranean scenes, Berry said she contacted Kozlowski about a Monet she was looking at for another client in December 2001.

He spent 20 minutes looking at the piece an 1883 oil on canvas and asked if he could see it in his apartment, eventually purchasing the painting for $3.95 million, Berry said.

Later that month, Berry said she attended a viewing of paintings at Kozlowski's home in Boca Raton, Fla. After about an hour, Kozlowski agreed to purchase four pieces for $8.8 million, including paintings by Renoir, Munnings and Gustave Caillebotte, she said.

On Monday, the jury saw a photograph of each painting as it was hung in Kozlowski's apartment on 5th Avenue in New York. It was the jury's first look into Kozlowski's lavishly decorated New York apartment, which played a much larger role in the prosecution's case in the prior trial.

Under questioning from defense attorneys, Berry said she wasn't told who owned the Manhattan apartment for which Kozlowski was purchasing art. Defense attorneys have argued in part that the Manhattan apartment was a corporate asset of Tyco.

Berry later said under additional questioning by prosecutors that Kozlowski and his wife described it as "their apartment."


Copyright 2005 Associated Press