India-born former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta has asked a US court for a new trial to reverse his conviction on insider trading charges, arguing that the district judge had committed “serious evidentiary errors” that tipped the scales decisively in the case.
In a 72-page brief submitted to the US court of appeals for the second circuit, Gupta’s lawyer Seth Waxman argued that his client is “entitled to a new trial” at which “unreliable hearsay statements are excluded” and the jury “hears the full story of Gupta’s defence”.
“The court should reverse the convictions in view of the (district) court’s serious evidentiary errors, which decisively tipped the scales in this case,” Mr Waxman said.
Gupta, 64, was convicted of passing confidential information about Goldman Sachs to his friend and business associate, Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam, who is currently serving an 11-year prison term for running one of the biggest insider trading schemes in US history.
Gupta was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in October 2012 but was in December granted his request to remain free on bail while he fights his conviction. — PTI