Bill Gates, Kofi Annan sentencing support for Rajat Gupta
Gupta, 63, the most influential and best-known corporate figure to be caught in a broad insider trading crackdown of the last four years, moved in elite business and philanthropic circles for decades. He is also a former head of the McKinsey & Co management consultancy.
A jury convicted Gupta in June of tipping his friend and business associate, Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, about Goldman's boardroom secrets during the financial crisis. He was found not guilty of divulging the quarterly earnings in January 2009 of Procter & Gamble Co , where he also served as a board member.
Microsoft Corp co-founder Gates, in one letter among about 200 written to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, wrote that he wanted to help "round out Rajat's profile as you consider the appropriate sentence for him."
Gates worked with Gupta when Gupta was chair of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Gates wrote that "many millions of people are leading better lives - or are alive at all - thanks to the efforts he so ably supported."
The judge released the letters on Friday night ahead of the Oct. 24 sentencing in Manhattan federal court at the request of a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. Prosecutors and Gupta's lawyers gave their consent,
The letters came from company heads, academics, friends and family, including his wife and four adult daughters.
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his letter, said: "I urge you to recognize Rajat for the good he has done in the world, to give him the credit that he deserves for helping others and to take into account his efforts to improve the lives of millions of people."
One of the themes running through many of the letters was that not enough of Gupta's humanitarian work came out at his trial. The judge had puts limits on what the jury could hear about Gupta's philanthropy.
His wife, Anita Gupta, wrote, "I know I have to accept the decision of the jury but I cannot but feel that who my husband is and what he stands for did not fully come out at the trial."
The maximum sentence for securities fraud is 20 years and the maximum sentence for conspiracy is five years, although it seems unlikely that Gupta would receive such a heavy punishment following his conviction on those charges.
Rajaratnam was convicted of 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy last year and is serving an 11-year prison term.
Gupta, who lives in Westport, Connecticut, is also a former director at American Airlines Corp and had ties to a prominent business school in his native India.
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his letter, said: "I urge you to recognize Rajat for the good he has done in the world, to give him the credit that he deserves for helping others and to take into account his efforts to improve the lives of millions of people."
One of the themes running through many of the letters was that not enough of Gupta's humanitarian work came out at his trial. The judge had puts limits on what the jury could hear about Gupta's philanthropy.
His wife, Anita Gupta, wrote, "I know I have to accept the decision of the jury but I cannot but feel that who my husband is and what he stands for did not fully come out at the trial."
The maximum sentence for securities fraud is 20 years and the maximum sentence for conspiracy is five years, although it seems unlikely that Gupta would receive such a heavy punishment following his conviction on those charges.
Rajaratnam was convicted of 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy last year and is serving an 11-year prison term.
Gupta, who lives in Westport, Connecticut, is also a former director at American Airlines Corp and had ties to a prominent business school in his native India.
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