US Supreme Court denies Rajat Gupta’s Plea for Continued Bail

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg of the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a plea by former Director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Rajat Gupta, to remain on bail while he appeals against his conviction. He has filed a petition for rehearing his case before the Second Circuit appeals court in April and the court is yet to take action over it. He was found guilty of insider trading by a Manhattan Federal Jury in June 2013 and is supposed to surrender to prison authorities on June 17, to begin a two –year sentence.

After this conviction, he had swiftly filed an appeal which was shot down in March. In addition to the two-year prison term, Gupta has been ordered to pay $5 million in fine and a separate $6 million in reimbursement to Goldman Sachs. He also has a separate appeals case to reduce this reimbursement amount, as well as against a separate civil ruling that demands Gupta pay $13.9 million for his insider trading crimes, brought upon him by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In April Gupta appealed to the SEC to dismiss the $13.9 million fine, saying that the monetary and punitive damage he has already incurred are more than enough.

He contended that it is improbable that he’ll flee and he is likely to win the appeal due to legal errors committed during the conviction. His assertion was that if the Supreme Court intervenes after he starts with his jail term, by the time a decision is confirmed, he would’ve served at least half the two-year sentence. His conviction was affirmed by a federal appeals court in New Court.

His attorney, Seth Waxman negated the option of resubmitting the application to a different Justice.

The Harvard Graduate was found guilty of passing confidential boardroom information to billionaire Galleon Group LLC co- founder Raj Rajaratnam. He is the highest-profile executive in the U.S. crackdown on insider training at hedge funds, charges that were brought against him by Manhattan's India-born top federal prosecutor Preet Bharara. He alleges that the wiretaps used as evidence against him, were improperly admitted. Also, that he should’ve been given a chance to justify his good character before the jury.

Rajaratnam was convicted in separated proceedings and awarded 11-year sentence in a federal medical prison in Ayer, Massachusetts. He is seeking Supreme Court review, and the court may act as soon as next week on his case. His brother, Rengan Rajaratnam’s trial will commence on 17 June, the day Gupta is scheduled to begin serving his prison sentence.

He submitted that the trial judge, Jed Rakoff should’ve informed the jurors that evidence of good character could raise reasonable doubt about his guilt. According to Bloomberg, his lawyer suggested that there was no evidence that he received any direct financial benefit from any of Rajaratnam’s trades, also stating that he pursued a life of extraordinary philanthropy, dedicating his wealth and time to causes great and small.

This ruling by the Supreme Court is the final nail in the coffin for his case, which is now at the ultimate stage after more than two years. As a result of this conviction, Gupta is barred for life from management positions of any type in the securities industry.