The Caravan – August 2019

87

insidestory· books

AUGUST 2019

ownedzero.Theycouldn’tproveanyofit.I had

fortyyearsofboardsecrets;therewasnoteverany

incidentofmegivinginsiderinformation.Sothere

wasnohistory.Theycouldn’treallyprovecrimi-

nalintentinanyway.It’snotmypractice.SoGary

wouldsay,‘You’reinnocentuntilprovenguilty,

andtheyhavenoproof.’AndI keptsaying,‘They

areconfusingtheissue!’”

“Sodidyouconfronthimaboutit?”Trehan

asked.

“OfcourseI confrontedhimaboutit.Hecon-

vincedmethennottotestify,whichI regret.I’m

notsureif theoutcomewould’vebeendifferent,

becausethegovernmentplayeda verycleverstrat-

egy,whichwastoconfusetheissuecompletely.”

Thecourtwasinundatedwithmountainsofir-

relevantdocuments,hesaid,bya prosecutionthat

“outmanoeuvredGary,noquestionaboutit,”and

keptpresentinguntruthsintheabsenceofhard

evidence.Intheend,thejury—“consistingof,you

know,hairdressersandbabysittersandschool-

teachers;onlyonejurorhadanyexperiencewith

thefinancialworld”—wasbored,perhapsmisled,

intoproducinga guiltyverdict.

Ofthefivecountsofsecuritiesfraudandone

countofgeneralconspiracythatGuptawas

chargedwith,hewasfoundguiltyofthreecounts

oftheformer,aswellastheconspiracycharge.

Afterhisappealwasrejected,in2014,hewentto

prison,wherehespenthistimeplayingScrabble

anddiscussingtheworld’sproblemswithhisfel-

lowinmates.Whenhisfive-year-oldgranddaugh-

tersvisitedhiminprison,theyweretoldthathe

wasstayingina camp.Itwasinprisonthatsome-

onesuggestedhewritehismemoir,anappealing

ideaconsideringhissilencethroughoutthetrial.

Eversincehisrelease,in2016,Guptahastalked

aboutreformingtheUScriminal-justicesystem.

Whileinprison,heinterviewedaroundfortyof

hisfellowinmates,andconcludedthata quarter

ofthemshouldnothavebeenincarcerated.He

isdisdainfuloftheabsolutepowerthatprison

guardswieldovertheinmates,havingbeensentto

solitaryconfinementtwice—onetime,forusinga

rolled-uptoweltoeasehisbackpain.

GuptaalsometRajaratnaminprison,strolling

uptohimonedaytogiveclosuretotheirpast.

RajaratnamwasstilldefensiveaboutVoyager,but

Guptawaseagertomoveonfromthecase.After

all,Rajaratnamcouldhaveshavedfiveyearsoff

his11-yearsentencebytestifyingagainsthim,but

hadnot.

“Didyouforgivehimforcheatingyououtof$10

million,orforgettingyouintoprison?”Trehan

askedGuptaatthelaunch.

“Idon’tthinkthetwoarenecessarilyunre-

lated,”Guptasaid.“But,asI reflectedonthings...

Thisactuallycomesfrommyexperiencewithmy

ownfather.Hewenttoprisonduringtenyearsin

thefreedomstruggle,inandoutofjails.I never

previous spread:

In 1994, Rajat

Gupta secured

election as the first

managing director

of Indian descent

at the consultancy

firm McKinsey and

Company.

below: In 2011, Raj

Rajaratnam was

found guilty of

orchestrating the

biggest insider-

trading scandal in

history.

brendan mcdermid / reuters