NEW YORK (Bloomberg) ? Tyco International Ltd.'s former chief executive L. Dennis Kozlowski testified at his fraud and larceny trial that he didn't keep track of $12 million in company money he spent to furnish his New York apartment.

Kozlowski, in his third day on the stand in New York state court, said he didn't recall seeing a bill for any of the furnishings for the Fifth Avenue apartment, which cost Tyco $18 million without the decor, and that he never held his decorator to a budget. "I did not oversee this in the manner that I should've overseen it," said Kozlowski. "It was over-spent and I take responsibility for it." Kozlowski said he thought many of the furnishings were "God-awful" and that "I stuffed some of it in the closet". Prosecutors claim that Kozlowski improperly charged the apartment and its furnishings to Tyco. Kozlowski, 58, and former Tyco finance chief Mark Swartz, 44, also are charged with looting the company of $150 million and selling $575 million in Tyco shares and options whose price they inflated by misleading directors and investors. Their first trial ended in a mistrial in April, 2004. Kozlowski, who decorated the apartment with paintings that he either charged to Tyco or bought with money borrowed from the company, said he was uncertain about how much money he spent on the apartment. "I don't know the exact amount that was used," he told Assistant District Attorney Ann Donnelly. Referring to the $12 million decorating cost, Kozlowski asked the prosecutor, "Does that include the paintings?"

"That does not include the paintings," Donnelly said. Kozlowski spent more than $10 million on artworks for the apartment, including a Monet and a Renoir.

Kozlowski insisted the apartment was for business purposes and not a residence, which he described as "a place where you live, where you may have your family dog." He said the New York apartment was "a Tyco facility that I used when I was in New York." Kozlowski said only he had use of the apartment, where he kept clothing and family photos. He said he expected the apartment and its furnishings to increase in value. Last week, the New York Post reported that many of the items his decorator purchased were being auctioned off at a fraction of their cost. Last week, Kozlowski told the jury he never intended to commit any crimes at Tyco and that he was too busy running the company to pay attention to his personal finances.