Two-year probation for Indian American witness in Rajat Gupta, Rajratnam case

An Indian-American former Mckinsey partner, who helped convict Wall Street tycoons Raj Rajaratnam and Rajat Gupta for insider trading, was on Thursday sentenced to two years probation on securities fraud charges and ordered to forfeit $ 2.26 million.

Anil Kumar, 53, was sentenced by US Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan federal court today. Apart from the probation sentence, he was ordered to pay a $ 25,000 fine and forfeit $ 2.26 million.

“I am persuaded that this was aberrational conduct and that Mr Kumar has led a law-abiding and productive life," Chin said. "I am persuaded he cooperated not to get a lighter sentence but to make amends for what he did." In court papers, prosecutors had told the judge that Kumar had earned leniency with his willingness to come clean about his misdeeds.

"Kumar's significant, powerful, and timely cooperation has provided substantial assistance to the Government in the investigation and prosecution of two of the most high-profile defendants convicted of illegal insider trading in history," the prosecutor said.

Kumar was arrested along with hedge fund founder Rajaratnam in October 2009 and had pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of conspiracy and one count of securities fraud.

He faced a maximum prison sentence of 20 years but was given a lenient jail term due to his extensive cooperation with the government.

"I stand in this court today completely and totally shamed by the conduct that has brought me before your honour," Kumar said at his court hearing. "I strayed from my core beliefs that I stood for all my life."

A day before his sentencing, court papers submitted by Kumar's lawyers were unsealed in which he had sought probation for his cooperation in the government's crackdown on insider trading on the Wall Street.