A US federal judge has rejected a fresh appeal by India-born former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta to overturn his insider trading conviction, ruling that ‘hard fact remains’ that he committed a ‘serious crime’ and pursuing further legal options will serve no purpose.
US District Judge Jed Rakoff, who had presided over Gupta's 2012 trial and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment, said in his ruling that even though Gupta is a "man of many laudable qualities", the "hard fact remains" that he committed a serious crime.
In a memorandum submitted last month in the US District Court in Manhattan late last month, Gupta, 66, had sought a "certificate of appealability" that would have enabled him to appeal Rakoff's ruling.
In the ruling the judge had disagreed with Gupta's claim that there was "insufficient" evidence at trial of him receiving "personal benefits" in exchange for the insider tips he allegedly passed on to now-jailed billionaire hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam.
Denying Gupta's motion for a certificate of appealability, Rakoff said, "the Court has considered Gupta's other arguments for issuing a certificate and finds them without merit.