(Bloomberg) ? Bermuda-based Tyco International Ltd.?s ex-chief executive officer L. Dennis Kozlowski, on trial for leading a $700 million fraud, said he was ?ultimately responsible? for company filings that omitted millions of dollars in compensation.

Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Ann Donnelly showed jurors Tyco filings that didn?t include more than $100 million in payments to Kozlowski and other executives. Kozlowski said he signed some of the documents, including those filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He added that he didn?t prepare many of them.

?Where did the buck stop?? Donnelly asked during cross examination at the trial in New York state court in Manhattan. ?The buck stops with me with everything at Tyco,? he said.

The testimony supports the prosecution?s contention that Kozlowski, 58, purposely withheld information from investors. He and ex-finance chief Mark Swartz, 44, are accused of awarding themselves and other executives $150 million in cash, Tyco shares and loan forgiveness without proper board authorisation.

The two men are charged with securities fraud for hiding the company?s condition from investors while selling $575 million in shares and options at inflated prices.

In a tactical shift from his first trial, Kozlowski took the stand yesterday as the first witness for the defence. He told the jury of six men and six women that he never intended to commit any crimes at Tyco.

The former chief executive didn?t testify at his first trial. Swartz?s decision to take the stand during that prosecution backfired, jurors said, persuading many to vote to convict him. Swartz?s lawyers haven?t said whether their client will also testify in the retrial.

Jurors in the first prosecution, which ended last April, said they were 11 to 1 in favour of conviction on some counts when New York State Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus, who presides over this trial, declared a mistrial after the holdout juror reported receiving a threat. The holdout juror, Ruth Jordan, attended the trial today for the second day in a row.

At the beginning of her cross examination today, Donnelly asked Kozlowski about his rise to chief executive and how much latitude he had in that position.

?Tyco?s money was not your money to spend on yourself as you please, was it?? Donnelly asked.

?That?s right,? Kozlowski said.

Donnelly displayed a portion of Tyco?s 1999 financial statement, or 10-K, to the jury, focusing on the description of the Key Employee Loan Program. Kozlowski used loans under the program to buy millions of dollars in artwork and to pay other expenses unrelated to the plan?s purpose, namely ?to pay taxes upon the vesting of shares? in Tyco, according to the 10-K.

Kozlowski conceded that he used the loans for purposes other than paying taxes on share vestings. In earlier testimony, he said the loan program wasn?t restricted to paying taxes and that other Tyco executives had used it to buy boats and homes.

Earlier yesterday, Kozlowski also denied charges that he improperly expensed $1.97 million in art purchases to Tyco and borrowed $12.7 million from the company to pay for the rest.

Kozlowski said a painting he charged to Tyco belonged to the company and that it was ?more appropriate? for him to pay out of his own pocket for other, more expensive paintings, including a Monet and a Renoir. He told the jury that he repaid the loans. ?I signed notes and I paid Tyco for those paintings,? he said.

Swartz and Kozlowski face 31 charges of stock fraud, falsifying business records, grand larceny and conspiracy. The most serious charge carries a 25-year jail term. Both men are free on bond.

Tyco, which operates out of West Windsor, New Jersey, is the world?s biggest maker of electronic connectors, industrial valves and security systems. During his last five years as CEO, Kozlowski presided over more than $64 billion of acquisitions.

Prosecutors claim in court papers that Kozlowski and Swartz abused company loan programs to live ?like royalty,? buying paintings, property, jewellery and throwing parties.

The defendants contend that their actions were proper and that they made no attempt to hide them from Tyco?s board or auditors. Prosecutors say the two carefully omitted reference to the bonuses and borrowings from documents reviewed by directors and shareholders or sought approval after the fact.

Prosecutors accused Kozlowski of making non-business use of a Tyco-owned New York City apartment on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and expensing lavish parties for his wife, including $1 million for her birthday party on the island of Sardinia.

Kozlowski testified yesterday that he had business meetings at the apartment. He denied choosing its furnishings, which included a $6,000 shower curtain and a $15,000 umbrella stand.

The party for his wife, Kozlowski testified, was ?a combination birthday party and perk trip for people in Tyco and close friends.?