Rajat Gupta's fate set to be sealed in US court

Former Goldman Sachs directorRajat Gupta is set to be sentenced by a US judge here oninsider trading charges, a year after the Indian-American WallStreet honcho was charged with passing boardroom secrets tothe now-imprisoned hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam.

The Prosecution has sought a prison term of 8-10 yearsfor the 63-year-old Gupta, who was convicted by a jury in Junethis year in a closely followed trial on three counts ofsecurities fraud and one count of conspiracy.

His sentencing by US District Judge Jed Rakoff later thisevening comes exactly a year after Manhattan's top federalattorney India-born Preet Bharara filed insider tradingcharges against the former McKinsey head.

Gupta, the most high-profile Wall Street executive to beconvicted in the government's crackdown on insider trading, isseeking leniency from the judge, citing his otherwiseunblemished career and philanthropic work.

In a memorandum filed in federal court last week, Gupta'slawyer Gary Naftalis sought probation for his Harvard-educatedclient, saying Gupta is willing to live in Rwanda and workwith the local government on health care and agriculturalinitiatives.

Bharara is seeking a prison term of 8-10 years for Gupta,arguing that his "shocking" crimes were not an "isolatedoccurrence or a momentary lapse in judgement and a"significant term of imprisonment is necessary to reflect theseriousness of Gupta's crimes and to deter other corporateinsiders in similar positions of trust from stealing corporatesecrets and engaging in a crime that has become far toocommon".

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com