US prosecutor Preet Bharara opposes Rajat Gupta’s conviction reversal plea
5 April 2015 11:26 PM GMT
India-born ex-Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta’s conviction on insider trading charges should not be thrown out as the government provided “overwhelming” proof against him for passing on illegal information in return for “expected potential pecuniary gains,” US prosecutors said. The prosecutors said the IIT and Harvard-educated former McKinsey head, who is serving a two-year sentence, had a “powerful” financial incentive to tip his billionaire hedge-fund operator friend Raj Rajaratnam.
Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara submitted a memorandum on behalf of the government opposing Gupta’s plea to throw out his conviction based on a recent ruling by an appeals court in which it reversed the insider convictions of hedge-fund managers Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson. Convicted in 2012, Gupta, 66, began serving a two-year prison term on insider trading charges in June, 2014. He was also fined $5 million.
Stressing that the personal aspect of Gupta-Rajaratnam relationship was “undeniable,” the government said Gupta personally invested in Galleon and participated in several actual and contemplated ventures with him.
“In sum, Gupta’s financial interests were heavily aligned with Galleon’s. Rajaratnam bestowed corporate titles on Gupta, gave him an ongoing financial interest in Galleon International... and generally granted Gupta a level of access and corporate prestige that Gupta craved.
“As part of their business relationship, each had shared expectations. Rajaratnam expected,
and Gupta consistently delivered, inside information that Gupta possessed as a corporate insider. For those tips, Gupta clearly expected potential pecuniary gain in return,” the prosecutors said.
Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara submitted a memorandum on behalf of the government opposing Gupta’s plea to throw out his conviction based on a recent ruling by an appeals court in which it reversed the insider convictions of hedge-fund managers Todd Newman and Anthony Chiasson. Convicted in 2012, Gupta, 66, began serving a two-year prison term on insider trading charges in June, 2014. He was also fined $5 million.
Stressing that the personal aspect of Gupta-Rajaratnam relationship was “undeniable,” the government said Gupta personally invested in Galleon and participated in several actual and contemplated ventures with him.
“In sum, Gupta’s financial interests were heavily aligned with Galleon’s. Rajaratnam bestowed corporate titles on Gupta, gave him an ongoing financial interest in Galleon International... and generally granted Gupta a level of access and corporate prestige that Gupta craved.
“As part of their business relationship, each had shared expectations. Rajaratnam expected,
and Gupta consistently delivered, inside information that Gupta possessed as a corporate insider. For those tips, Gupta clearly expected potential pecuniary gain in return,” the prosecutors said.
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