The US Attorney’s Office has accused McKinsey Consulting Company managing director and ex-member of Goldman Sachs Group board of directors Rajat Kumar Gupta of handing over inside information to the founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund - Raja Rajaratnam. Bloomberg reports. Gupta had also held a post of independent director of the biggest Russian financial organization Sberbank up to the middle of 2010.
Before there were only American government’s suspicions concerning to the Gupta’s involvement into the case of New-York Galleon Group fund. However, criminal case accusation is still not brought to him, and the court session concerning this case will take place on March, 8.
As Reuters reports, according to the Attorney’s Office opinion, Gupta, being a Goldman Sachs top-manager, repeatedly handed over confidential information to Rajaratnam, and it helped the latter to get profit from bank shares in the stock market game. According to the assistant attorney Jonathan Streeter’s words Gupta at least twice gave a telephone call to Rajaratnam immediately after Goldman Sachs board of directors meeting. After these telephone calls the founder of Galleon Group had been selling or buying Goldman’s shares.
Rajaratnam was arrested in October 2009. He was accused of equity fraud and collusion. He denies his guilt. Gupta’s lawyer has also announced that all accusations to his client are groundless.
Gupta was included into Sberbank board of directors in 2008 and was the first foreigner there. In June 2010 the head of the Central Bank’s financial markets operations department Sergey Shvecov has become Sberbank independent director instead of Gupta.
