Belnick Allegedly Took Loans Without OK

A Tyco International Ltd. lawyer testified that the company’s former top lawyer, Mark Belnick, took almost $15 million in loans without proper approval, including relocation loans for which he was not eligible.

Tyco counsel Brian Moroze testified that one relocation loan, about $10 million, was used to buy a house in the ski resort town of Park City, Utah, where Tyco has no offices. Another loan was used to buy and renovate an apartment on Central Park West in Manhattan.

The Tyco relocation loans were meant to help employees move from New Hampshire, where the company had its headquarters, to New York. Belnick lived in Westchester County, north of the city.

Prosecutors say that as Tyco’s top legal officer, Belnick knew the payments were illegal because only the board could award him such bonuses.