Gupta Admirers Gates, Annan Urge Mercy as Insider Sentence Nears
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Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan were among supporters of ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director Rajat Gupta who urged mercy at his sentencing next week for his part in the biggest hedge fund insider trading scheme in U.S. history.
Gupta is to be sentenced Oct. 24 for leaking stock tips to Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam, who masterminded the conspiracy. In letters to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan, Gates, Annan and at least 200 others wrote on behalf of Gupta, who faces as many as 20 years in prison on the most serious of the four counts of which he was convicted.