Fallen Wall Street tycoon Rajat Gupta has been sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $5-million fine by a US judge who termed Indian-American\u2019s insider trading crimes as \u201cdisgusting\u201d and a \u201cterrible breach of trust\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Gupta, 63 was also ordered by US District Judge Jed Rakoff to serve a year of supervised release after the end of his prison term.<\/p>\n
The IIT and Harvard-educated former Goldman Sachs director would have to surrender to a designated prison on January 8, 2013. Rakoff denied Gupta\u2019s request to remain free on bail while he appeals his case.<\/p>\n
A court could have taken about two years or more to rule on Gupta\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n
While the judge agreed to a request from Gupta\u2019s lawyers that he be assigned to New York\u2019s medium-security prison in Otisville, the final decision rests with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.<\/p>\n
Dressed in a dark blue suit, Gupta looked tensed and appeared to hold back tears as his sentencing proceedings began in Manhattan federal court here yesterday. He sat expressionless as Rakoff read the 15-page sentence at the end of the hearing which lasted over two-and-a-half hours.<\/p>\n
Gupta\u2019s sentencing comes exactly a year after he was charged with securities and conspiracy fraud, for which he had faced a maximum sentence of 25 years, and marks a stunning fall from grace for the Indian-American who rose through the ranks to become one of the most prominent titans on Wall Street.<\/p>\n
Rakoff, who on multiple occasions gave Gupta credit for his life of philanthropic works, said at the heart of Gupta\u2019s offences is his \u201cegregious breach of trust\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Rakoff told that he is a good man.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the history of this country and the history of the world are full of examples of good men who did bad things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rakoff said the evidence that Gupta passed illegal information about Goldman Sachs to now-jailed hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam was \u201cnot only overwhelming, it was disgusting in its implications… It was a terrible breach of trust\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Rakoff said the urgency and manner in which Gupta shared information about Warren Buffet\u2019s five billion dollar investment in Goldman Sachs with Rajaratnam \u201cwas the functional equivalent of stabbing Goldman in the back\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the eye of the law, Gupta\u2019s crime was to breach his fiduciary duty of confidentiality to Goldman Sachs; or to put it another way, Goldman Sachs, not the marketplace, was the victim of Gupta\u2019s crimes as charged,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
Rakoff said he does not dispute Gupta\u2019s innumerable charitable works and his intentions to help out others selflessly but his personal history and characteristics \u201cstarkly contrast\u201d with the nature and circumstances of his crimes.<\/p>\n
Before Rakoff gave his judgment, Gupta made his first comments in court, reading from a prepared statement and expressing regret over letting his family and colleagues down.<\/p>\n
Gupta\u2019s wife and four daughters sat right behind him in the spectators\u2019 gallery, holding each others\u2019 hands and often consoling each other as they wept through the hearing. Several of Gupta\u2019s close friends and other members of family were also present in the packed courtroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last 18 months have been the most challenging period of my life since I lost my parents as a teenager. I have lost my reputation that I have built over a lifetime. The verdict was devastating to my family, my friends and me,\u201d Gupta said.<\/p>\n
At the end of the court\u2019s proceedings, Gupta smiled as he shook hands and hugged his team of defence lawyers.<\/p>\n
Surrounded by his family, he said he had no comment on the sentence as he walked out of the courtroom.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By: PTI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fallen Wall Street tycoon Rajat Gupta has been sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $5-million fine by a US judge who termed Indian-American\u2019s insider trading crimes as \u201cdisgusting\u201d and a \u201cterrible breach of trust\u2019\u2019. Gupta, 63 was also ordered by US District Judge Jed Rakoff to serve a year of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[17977,17974,17978,17973,17976,17984,17983,17979,17980,17975,17981,17982],"class_list":["post-24204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-law-news","tag-boardroom-secrets","tag-former-goldman-sachs-director","tag-hegde-fund-founder-raj-rajratnam","tag-insider-trading-case","tag-insider-trading-charges","tag-jed-rakoff","tag-leaking-warren-buffetts-investment-in-goldman-sachs-to-rajat-gupta","tag-manhattan-court","tag-preet-bharara","tag-rajat-gupta-sentenced-to-2-years-jail-term","tag-securities-and-conspirancy-fraud","tag-warren-buffetts-investment-in-goldman-sachs"],"yoast_head":"\n