British D&O insurer asks N.Y. court to confirm that former Tyco chief owes $2 million

A British insurance company has asked a New York state court to confirm an arbitration award that directs imprisoned corporate thief L. Dennis Kozlowski, former head of Tyco International Ltd., to pay nearly $2 million (euro1.4 million).

The petition was filed in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court by Corporate Officers & Directors Assurance Ltd., mentioned in earlier court papers as having sold a directors and officers policy to Tyco. The company, also called CODA, was mentioned in an earlier lawsuit by Kozlowski when he sued Federal Insurance Co. and others in an attempt to force them to pay his legal fees.

The petition mentions an arbitration award in England in March and an award of costs in September totaling $1.97 million (euro1.38 million). That amount, which appears to include funds already paid to Kozlowski plus costs of the British litigation, is what CODA is asking the court to direct Kozlowski to pay.

“CODA seeks confirmation of the awards and having them entered as a judgment because Kozlowski has not voluntarily paid the amounts awarded to CODA, has not indicated that he will do so, and his funds and assets are subject to the supervision of this court,” say court papers.

Kozlowski, 60, was convicted in June 2005 of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from Tyco and illegally earning hundreds of millions more by manipulating stock. He is serving an eight and one-third to 25-year sentence at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, New York, near Utica. He is appealing his conviction.

Kozlowski’s lawyer on the arbitration, Jeffrey E. Glen, said he could not comment on the case now because he wanted to respect English confidentiality provisions of the arbitration. He said he might ask the court later to apply U.S. confidentiality rules.