Embroiled in several investigations over corruption charges against former senior management, Tyco Int’l Ltd. on Oct. 23 said it agreed to pay $5 million to the state of New Hampshire after regulators there began a securities probe.
Reuters reports Tyco also agreed to pay $100,000 to cover the costs of the investigation by the securities bureau, which alleged that senior executives and directors misused corporate funds and filed false and incomplete regulatory statements.
Tyco said it signed the agreement without admitting to the misconduct alleged by the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation. Tyco’s U.S. headquarters are in Exeter, New Hampshire.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tyco will pay a $5 million administrative settlement to the state. The funds will be used to support a statewide investor-education program and establish a corporate governance program within the university system of New Hampshire.
Mark Connolly, director of the state bureau, said in a statement that Tyco employees’ conduct “represent the highest form of corporate mistrust and greed. Through their actions, shareholders suffered and investor confidence in public companies was further shaken,” according to Reuters.
The bureau had subpoenaed Tyco documents to investigate former Tyco chairman Dennis Kozlowski, ex-finance chief Mark Swartz; former general counsel Mark Belnick, and former director Frank Walsh.
Before scandal hit Tyco this year, the company was seen as one of New Hampshire’s most generous benefactors, reports Reuters. Tyco’s stock ranked as the fourth-largest holding in the New Hampshire retirement system at the end of June 2001.
