New York, Oct 29: Jurors saw a videotape yesterday of dancing women, half-naked male models and 'Margaritaville' singer Jimmy Buffett at a two million dollar party that L. Dennis Kozlowski, former CEO of Tyco International, threw for his wife's birthday on a Mediterranean island.
Prosecutors maintained the party, more than half of which was paid for with company money, was a "stark example" of how Kozlowski and former chief financial officer Mark Swartz looted hundreds of millions from Tyco for their personal benefit.
"It's going to be a fun week," the tape shows Kozlowski telling about 75 guests arriving to celebrate Karen Mayo's 40th birthday on the Italian island of Sardinia on June 11, 2001. "Eating, drinking, whatever. All the things we're best known for."
The tape shows five young women in scanty, diaphanous frocks cavorting around a swimming pool, half-naked male models posing in snapshots with female guests and a performance from a pop star.
The jurors saw 21 minutes of what had been a four-hour videotape. State Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus, who is presiding at Kozlowski and Swartz's larceny trial, ordered some segments removed, saying they could prejudice the jury against the defendants and were irrelevant to whether they had committed any crimes.


Bureau Report