Supreme Court rejects his final bid for freedom.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The long-fought case of Rajat Gupta, who has desperately tried to avoid jail time after being convicted of insider trading in 2012, came to an end on Wednesday when the US Supreme Court shot down Gupta’s one remaining chance at skirting prison.
The most powerful court in the US struck down Gupta’s plea to remain free on bail until his appeal for a new trial is heard. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who oversees emergency judiciary requests for the court, denied the motion, securing Gupta’s fate and ensuring that the disgraced financial honcho will now have to report to prison next week.
In his filing with the Supreme Court, Gupta reportedly stated that he will more than likely win his appeal, citing several legal errors that were allegedly made over the course of his trial and subsequent initial appeal, which was shot down just two months ago. He also said that he poses absolutely no risk of flight, but the Supreme Court apparently didn’t buy this, following in the footsteps of a US District Court that blocked Gupta from attending a relative’s wedding in India for the same reason.
The Supreme Court ruling is the final nail in the coffin for Gupta’s case, which has now come to a complete stop after more than two years.
During his time with Goldman Sachs, Gupta passed privileged information regarding stocks and investments to fellow hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, who is currently serving a sizable prison sentence of his own. Wiretaps and other correspondences surfaced that prosecutors used to convict Gupta, while Rajaratnam has been behind bars.
Following his arrest in 2012 on charges of insider trading, Gupta was convicted in June of 2013, after which he swiftly filed an appeal. That appeal was shot down in March. As a result of his conviction, Gupta is forever barred from management positions of any kind in the securities industry.
Gupta also has a separate appeals case to reduce his court-ordered restitution amount of $6.22 million, as well as 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.
Now, Gupta will report to prison on June 17, to begin his two-year term. He will be held in a medium-security facility in Otisville, located in upstate New York.