By Patrick Clark 10/25/12 6:05pm

White Collar

Mr. Gupta. (World Economic Forum/Michael Wuertenberg)

One Day After Gupta Gets Two Years, Expert Consultant Cops Year-long Bid for Insider Trading

One day after corporate chieftain Rajat Gupta was sentenced to two years in prison after his conviction on insider trading charges, a different judge sentenced a former AT&T employee who pleaded guilty to sharing privileged information with investors to one year’s jail time.

Alnoor Ebrahim, who pleaded guilty in June to sharing sales information for AT&T handset devices, including the iPhone and Blackberry. Mr. Ebrahim, who was sentenced by Judge Paul J. Oetken, was paid more than $180,000 for his work with expert network Primary Global Research, which consisted of hundreds of calls with the firm’s clients. Read More

By Patrick Clark 10/24/12 5:13pm

White Collar

World Economic Forum/Michael Wuertenberg

Former McKinsey & Co. CEO Rajat Gupta Gets Two Years Prison Time for Insider Trading

Rajat Gupta, the former chief executive officer of McKinsey & Co., was sentenced to two years imprisonment for insider trading this afternoon during a hearing presided over by Judge Jed Rakoff at the U.S. Southern District courthouse.

Mr. Gupta, who was convicted in May of using his position on the board of directors at Goldman Sachs to pass privileged information to Galleon Group hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, has sought probation in lieu of imprisonment. The government recommended a jail term of eight to 10 years.

“With today’s sentence, Rajat Gupta now must face the grave consequences of his crime,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in an emailed statement. “His conduct has forever tarnished a once-sterling reputation that took years to cultivate. We hope that others who might consider breaking the securities laws will take heed from this sad occasion and choose not to follow in Mr. Gupta’s footsteps.” Read More

By Patrick Clark 5/29/12 1:51pm

Bad Apples

Judge Jed Rakoff. (The Washington Post)

Judge Jed Rakoff Says U.S. vs. Gupta Reveals Business Ethics Rotten to the Core

After 16 years presiding over white collar cases in the U.S. District Court’s Southern District, you’d think Judge Jed Rakoff would be hard to disallusion. Not so. It only took six days for the insider trading trial of Rajat Gupta—the former McKinsey & Co. CEO accused of tipping Galleon Group hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam to sensitive corporate secrets—to cause Mr. Rakoff to hang his head in dismay. Read More