NEW YORK — Business tycoon Dennis Kozlowski was booked Tuesday on felony charges of dodging state sales tax on more than $13 million of paintings by Monet, Renoir and others hanging in his Fifth Avenue apartment.

        Mr. Kozlowski, who resigned as chief executive of Tyco International Ltd. just before word of the investigation leaked out Monday, was red-faced but silent when he surrendered at the Manhattan courthouse, where he was ringed by reporters while arriving and leaving.

Kozlowski

        Dressed in a suit and tie, he entered a not-guilty plea during his arraignment. He was released on a $3 million personal recognizance bond.

        Mr. Kozlowski, 55, who has raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in salary, bonuses and stock while building Tyco into a huge conglomerate in the past decade, was accused of evading more than $1 million in sales tax. He was charged with tampering with physical evidence, falsifying business records and failure to collect sales tax.

        He faces 11 felony counts, each punishable by up to four years in prison, and a misdemeanor conspiracy charge. “The charges are unsubstantiated,” said his lawyer, Stephen Kaufman.

        Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morganthau quoted from a memo from an art dealer, who was not identified, involved in the purchases: “Here is a list of the five paintings to go to New Hampshire (wink, wink).”

        “I think over the years there has been too much winking at this kind of activity,” Mr. Morgenthau said. “We don't intend to wink.”

        “At a time when the city is in a fiscal crisis, the state is in a fiscal crisis ... for somebody who was highly paid to fail to pay over a million dollars in sales tax is a serious crime and will be treated seriously,” he said.

        He said the investigation was ongoing, and prosecutors were also looking at the activities of dealers and collectors.

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