Gupta feels strongly about his innocence, says lawyer
NEW YORK: As former Mckinsey head Rajat Gupta heads for trial on insider trading charges, his lawyer says the IndianAmerican Wall Street executive feels strongly about his innocence in the high-profile case.
Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs director, has been charged with passing on insider information he learned while serving on the boards of Goldman and Proctor and Gamble to Sri Lankan hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam.
The former Mckinsey head has pleaded not guilty and will go on trial on April 9. If convicted, he faces 20 years in prison on each of the securities fraud charges and five years for the conspiracy charge.
63-year-old Gupta “feels strongly about his innocence in this case. We are fighting very hard on his behalf,” his lawyer Gary Naftalis told reporters here.
Naftalis said Gupta is holding up fine as the trial nears. Gupta’s lawyers are expected to argue that their client did not make any profits through his association with Rajaratnam, who is currently serving an 11 year prison sentence after being convicted of insider trading charges.
During pre-trial hearings in the case, Naftalis has also argued that relationship between Gupta and Rajaratnam deteriorated in 2008 and 2009, after Gupta lost $10 million investment he had made with Galleon hedge fund founder.
Naftalis said Gupta could not have shared confidential company information with Rajaratnam as he was unhappy with him on how he had handled Gupta’s investment and their relations had soured.
An indictment charging Gupta with five counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy was filed last October. The government is expected to bring a superseding indictment, possibly containing expanded charges, by January 31 against Gupta.( PTI)