Report: Wiretapped Goldman exec found guilty of insider trading in case that involves Apple

Élyse Betters | Jun 15 2012 - 10:03 am PT

Rajat Gupta is on the right (image via the Wall Street Journal).

A federal jury just convicted Rajat Kumar Gupta, an ex-Goldman Sachs director, of insider trading in a case that involves swapped information about Apple and other technology firms.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Gupta was convicted on three counts of securities fraud, one count of conspiracy, and acquitted of two counts of securities fraud. The executive dabbled in a bit of insider trading when he discussed non-public boardroom information about his company and Procter & Gamble to a prominent hedge fund manager.

Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of Galleon Group, which is a New York-based hedge fund management firm, earned millions off Gupta’s tips. He is now serving an 11-year prison sentence on charges stemming from the insider trading case. Lawyers for Gupta recently submitted evidence that pinpointed another Goldman Sachs executive as sharing inside information with Rajaratnam.

As 9to5Mac previously detailed, David Loeb, who is head of Asia equity sales for Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in New York, was supposedly caught on a U.S. wiretap providing confidential information about Apple Inc., Intel Corp., and Hewlett-Packard Co., to Rajaratnam.

According to SFGate, the Manhattan jury contemplated the charges against Gupta, but did not listen the wiretap evidence during his trial. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that the wiretaps were inadmissible hearsay. An attorney for Gupta told the judge earlier this week that the evidence about Loeb was critical to the defense and proved “that another person committed an act of which the defendant stands accused.”

The defense rested its case and the jury concluded this morning. Gupta faces up to five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and up to 20 years for each fraud charge. His sentencing is set for Oct. 18.

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