New York Times (May 22, 2012)
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May 22, 2012, 2:29 am
India’s Business Leaders Praise Insider Trading Defendant Gupta
By HEATHER TIMMONS
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Rajat Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Procter & Gamble
board member, exits the Manhattan Federal Court in New York on
Monday.Scores of India’s top businessmen have submitted testimonials to
the Web site Friends of Rajat, dedicated to correcting what it calls “a
greatly unfair and incorrect caricature of the real Rajat Gupta”
presented by the press.
Mr. Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs director and head of the consulting
company McKinsey, stands trial this week on insider trading charges in
a Manhattan courthouse. He is accused of leaking secrets to Raj
Rajaratnam, the co-founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund, who was
sentenced to 11 years in prison this year for insider trading.
While prosecutors call Mr. Gupta the “illegal eyes and ears in the
boardroom for his friend and business associate,” some of India’s most
successful businessmen paint a very different picture. Their often very
personal testimonials highlight how closely knit the Indian business
community is, particularly when it comes to executives working
overseas, and how much Mr. Gupta’s success has meant to the community.
Surendra Kaul, a businessman in Denmark, recalls meeting Mr. Gupta in
the 1980s, when he led Denmark’s McKinsey office. Mr. Kaul remembers
spending time with Mr. Gupta just before he left Denmark to join
McKinsey’s board in Chicago: “He said that we Indians are not regarded
as the ones who can do well in their lives and reach at the top and he
wants prove that it is possible,” Mr. Kaul writes.
Rana Talwar, the former Standard Chartered head, praises Mr. Gupta’s
“charisma, leadership qualities and impeccable reputation.”
“In every conversation I have had with him over the years, he was
always talking about the things he wanted to do for India, for others,
and never about himself,” billionaire Mukesh Ambani writes. He closes
by saying, “I respect Rajat for his selfless dedication and humility
and he will always be a friend of mine.”
The complete list of contributors covers a wide portfolio of Indian
business and politics, including Godrej chairman Adi Godrej, former
secretary of the Ministry of Heath Sujatha Rao and DLF chairman K. P.
Singh. (Somewhat conspicuous in his absence is Tata Group chairman
Ratan Tata, whose name often is often invoked in India as the gold
standard of respectability and ethics.)
The Web site does not intend to address the charges against Mr. Gupta,
only offer testimonials to his character. “We specifically do not
intend to discuss the legal case against him; he has a strong legal
defense team and we have faith in the American legal system.”
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