Ex-Tyco chief's wife files for divorce

By | Posted - Aug. 16, 2006 at 4:40 p.m.

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AFX) - Karen Kozlowski, whose husband L. Dennis Kozlowski once threw her a $2 million birthday party on a Mediterranean island, is seeking a divorce from the ex-Tyco International CEO who was convicted of looting his company.

The divorce petition, filed July 31, asks that all of the couple's assets and liabilities be equally distributed and that Dennis Kozlowski be required to pay his wife financial support.

Karen Kozlowski, 45, is seeking a lien to protect her half of a 15,000-square-foot waterfront mansion in Boca Raton the couple bought with no-interest Tyco loans for $19 million.

Dennis Kozlowski, who was sentenced in September to between eight and 25 years in prison, has been selling off other properties and fine art to pay $167 million in court-ordered fines and restitution.

The Kozlowskis were married May 5, 2001 on the Caribbean island of Antigua. Karen Kozlowski figured in her husband's fraud trial when jurors were shown video of her lavish 40th birthday party on the island of Sardinia, about half of which was also paid for with Tyco funds.

Karen Kozlowski's attorney in Miami, Jason Marks, declined to elaborate Wednesday.

"It's a very sensitive matter for both Karen and Dennis," he said.

Dennis Kozlowski's lawyer in New York did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Wednesday.

Dennis Kozlowski and Tyco International Ltd.'s former chief financial officer, Mark Swartz, were convicted in June 2005 of looting Tyco of nearly $600 million to finance opulent lifestyles using illegal bonuses and loans.