My general feelings about Corporate Executives abuse of investor's trust as well as shareholders rights is that they should be held accountable for their actions. They are compensated extremely well for taking RISKS Risks taking is all about WINNING or LOOSING.

See latest development on Tyco.....

Former Tyco Auditor Says He Was Never Asked to Hide Data
By BLOOMBERG NEWS

Published: April 5, 2005

By Bloomberg News

The former outside auditor of Tyco International testified yesterday that its former chief executive, L. Dennis Kozlowski, never asked him to conceal information from the company's board.

Rick Scalzo, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, worked on independent audits for Tyco from 1994 to 2002, including four years as lead auditor. He testified as the fraud and larceny trial of Mr. Kozlowski and his former finance chief, Mark H. Swartz, entered its 12th week in New York state court in Manhattan.

"In those eight years, did Dennis Kozlowski ever ask you to withhold any information from Tyco's board of directors?" a defense lawyer, James DeVita, asked.

"No, he did not," said Mr. Scalzo, a prosecution witness who was barred from auditing public companies in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.

Prosecutors accuse Mr. Kozlowski and Mr. Swartz of stealing more than $150 million in unauthorized bonuses from Tyco in the form of cash, shares and forgiven company loans. The two are also charged with securities fraud and conspiracy. Mr. Kozlowski and Mr. Swartz are being retried after the first case ended in a mistrial in April 2004.

The defense asserts the two men did not intend to steal the money and that the Tyco board knew or could have learned of the payments. They also claim at if there was fraud, the company's auditors were obliged to report it to the board or its audit committee.

"If we identify any potential fraud we have an obligation to report it to the audit committee," Mr. Scalzo said. He said he told the audit committee about many of the bonuses that prosecutors now say were stolen.

"Did Mr. Kozlowski ever ask you to hide anything from the audit committee?" Mr. DeVita asked.

"No, he did not," Mr. Scalzo said.

Under questioning from prosecutors, Mr. Scalzo said that when he occasionally disagreed with Mr. Swartz about the way the bonuses were accounted for, he did not press the point because the money involved was not large compared with Tyco's overall balance sheet.

Mr. Scalzo testified that he discussed with the audit committee the accounting treatment of a management bonus related to the public offering of shares in a Tyco subsidiary, TyCom. Mr. Swartz and Mr. Kozlowski gave themselves $48 million in bonuses for the transaction.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/bu...r=MOREOVERNEWS