Past \u201cgood deeds\u201d helped Rajat Gupta, the one time poster boy of Indian business in America, get away with a two year prison sentence for leaking corporate secrets to former hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam.<\/p>\n
Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Federal District Court in Manhattan Wednesday handed down India born Gupta, 63, a former Indian-American director of Goldman Sachs Group, a more lenient prison sentence than the eight to 10 years stipulated for insider trading by nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never encountered a defendant whose past history suggests such an extraordinary devotion \u2026 to people in need,\u201d Rakoff said during a two hour hearing. Yet Gupta\u2019s past good deeds \u201cstarkly contrast with the nature and circumstances of his crimes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the record, which the government really doesn\u2019t dispute, bears out that he is a good man,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the history of this country and the history of the world, I\u2019m afraid, is full of examples of good men who do bad things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge also ordered Gupta to pay a $5 million fine and said he would face one year of supervised release after finishing his prison term. The defence plans an appeal.<\/p>\n
Gupta, who was accompanied to court by his wife and four daughters, apologised to his friends, family and the charitable institutions that he helped found.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last 18 months have been the most challenging period of my life since I lost my parents as a teenager,\u201d he told the judge before sentencing. \u201cI lost my reputation that I built over a lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch of the first year seemed surreal to me. However, since the trial I\u2019ve come to accept the reality of my life going forward\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, Manhattan\u2019s Indian-American US attorney Preet Bharara said: \u201cWith today\u2019s sentence, Rajat Gupta now must face the grave consequences of his crime \u2013 a term of imprisonment.\u201d<\/p>\n
His conduct has forever tarnished a once-sterling reputation that took years to cultivate, he said. \u201cWe hope that others who might consider breaking the securities laws will take heed from this sad occasion and choose not to follow in Gupta\u2019s footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prosecutors had urged a sentence of 97 to 121 months for Gupta, who was convicted last June for insider trading on three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy.<\/p>\n
Gupta\u2019s lawyers on the other hand had suggested he could repay for his \u201cshocking\u201d crimes by working for a homeless youth shelter in New York or in Rwanda, helping improve healthcare and develop agriculture in rural areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fall from grace that Mr. Gupta has suffered or experienced as a result of this matter is as steep as \u2026 I have ever seen,\u201d Gupta\u2019s lawyer Gary Naftalis told the court. \u201cThis was an iconic figure who had been a role model for countless people around the globe. He is no more.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By PTI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Past \u201cgood deeds\u201d helped Rajat Gupta, the one time poster boy of Indian business in America, get away with a two year prison sentence for leaking corporate secrets to former hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam. Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Federal District Court in Manhattan Wednesday handed down India born Gupta, 63, a former […]<\/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":[18023,18025,18024,18022,18018,18019,18015,18016,18026,18021,18020,4743,18017],"class_list":["post-24225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-law-news","tag-5-million-fine","tag-charitable-institutions","tag-defence-plans","tag-devotion","tag-district-court-in-manhattan","tag-goldman-sachs-group","tag-good-deeds","tag-indian-business-in-america","tag-indian-american-us-attorney","tag-judge-jed-s-rakoff","tag-lenient-prison","tag-rajat-gupta","tag-tycoon-raj-rajaratnam"],"yoast_head":"\n