New York: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta who was convicted for insider trading charges was sent to two years imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of USD 5 million by a federal judge here.
Gupta was ordered yesterday to serve a year supervised release, he has been ordered to surrender to prison on January 8, 2013, following the completion of his jail term.
Making his first statement in court, Gupta said, "The last 18 months have been the most challenging period of my life since I lost my parents. I have lost my reputation and the verdict was devastating for my family and friends. I have come to accept the reality of my life and regret terribly the impact of this matter on my family.
Gupta further said, " it was unbearable to see his family suffer."
US District Judge Jed Rakoff in sentencing Gupta said while the former McKinsey head has life of charitable work to his credit, by disclosing confidential information about Goldman Sachs to Hedge Fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, Gupta stabbed Goldman Sachs in the back.
Gupta was found guilty by a federal court in Manhattan on four counts, out of six on June 15 after a three-week trial for passing boardroom secrets to the now imprisoned billionaire Raj Rajaratnam at the height of the global financial crisis.
The Prosecution had sought a prison term of 8-10 years for Gupta who was convicted in a closely followed trial on three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy. The sentencing of India Inc's Wall Street poster boy by US District Judge Jed Rakoff comes exactly a year after Manhattan's top federal attorney India-born Preet Bharara filed insider trading charges against the former McKinsey head. .
Gupta, the most high profile Wall Street executive to be convicted in the government's crackdown on insider trading, had sought leniency from the judge, citing his otherwise unblemished career and philanthropic works.
In a memorandum filed in federal court last week, Gupta's lawyer Gary Naftalis had sought probation for his Harvard educated client, saying Gupta is willing to live in Rwanda and work with the local government on health care and agricultural initiatives. The second offer of community service made by Naftalis was that Gupta could work with Covenant House's New York site, which provides emergency shelter and other services for homeless, runaway and at risk youth.
Bharara had sought a prison term of 8-10 years for Gupta, arguing that his "shocking" crimes were not an "isolated occurrence or a momentary lapse in judgement and " a significant term of imprisonment is necessary to reflect the seriousness of Gupta's crimes and to deter other corporate insiders in similar positions of trust from stealing corporate secrets and engaging in a crime that has become far too common."
The Diwali of 2011 saw Gupta surrender himself before the FBI after charges of insider trading were filed against him.
Gupta's rise through the ranks of Corporate America was stellar with enviable posts like board seats at Goldman Sachs and Procter and Gamble, co-founder of the prestigious Indian School of Business, adviser to the executive leadership of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as also the United Nations dotting his resume. He was also a director of the AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines.
Gupta had also been getting support from family members, prominent business leaders and global philanthropic figures including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who are among the 400 people who have written letters to Rakoff detailing Gupta's charitable work.