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New York (Feb. 10, 2003) -- Prosecutors have charged that Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditor for Tyco International, knew about some of the transactions that are part of a criminal case against two former executives accused of looting some $600 million from the company.Manhattan prosecutors have accused former company chairman Dennis Kozlowski and former chief financial officer Mark Swartz of stealing the money through fraudulent stock sales and unauthorized bonuses.
"PricewaterhouseCoopers knew about most of the transactions in the indictment,'' John Moscow, the state's lead prosecutor, was quoted as saying during a New York State Supreme Court hearing.
A trial has been set for Sept. 29. Both Kozlowski and Swartz have pleaded not guilty.
In a statement the firm said, "PricewaterhouseCoopers continues to cooperate with the Manhattan district attorney’s Tyco investigation. It does not appear that anything said in court is new or has not previously been reported. We do not disagree with assistant DA Moscow’s assertion that PwC was aware of the some of the loans but that we had no knowledge any of the loans or bonuses at issue were unauthorized or unknown to the company and its board of directors."
-- Electronic Accountant Newswire staff
