NEW YORK (Bloomberg) ? Tyco International Ltd.?s former outside auditor testified that it wasn?t his job to determine whether bonuses received by former Chief Executive L. Dennis Kozlowski had been approved by the board.

Rick Scalzo, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, testified at the fraud and larceny trial of Kozlowski and former Tyco Chief Financial Officer Mark Swartz yesterday that his job as the company?s lead outside auditor didn?t require him to make such determinations about executive pay.

?It was not part of my responsibilities,? Scalzo, a government witness, told the jury in New York state court. ?I was engaged to give an audit opinion of the overall financial statements of Tyco.?

Prosecutors accuse Kozlowski, 58, and Swartz, 44, of stealing more than $150 million in unauthorised bonuses from Tyco in the form of cash, shares and forgiven company loans.

The prosecution says Swartz and Kozlowski charged the bonuses against gains from transactions including the initial public offering of shares in subsidiary TyCom Ltd.