Gates, Annan write to Judge ahead of Gupta sentencing

Gates, Annan write to Judge ahead of Gupta sentencingBill Gates and Kofi Annan and several others have written a letter to the US District Judge Jed Rakoff to show some fairness in the sentencing of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc board member Rajat Gupta scheduled for October 24.

"I know most personally that the poor of the world have a profoundly capable and articulate advocate in Rajat Gupta," wrote Gates. Annan, who was UN Secretary General from 1997-2006, wrote that he has worked with Mt. Gupta on several projects and described him as a good friend.

Rajat Gupta, who was the former director at Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble, was earlier released on a bail of $ 10 million in the US. Rajat Gupta was freed after he pleaded not guilty to charges of securities fraud and that he passed insider information to his friend Raj Rajaratnam, who is abillionnaire businessman.

Generally, the government lays insider-trading accusations against those people who profited directly from transactions based on tip offs of special information. However, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission do not have evidence suggesting Rajat Gupta benefited from insider trading directly.

Gupta's lawyer, Gary Naftalis of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel allege that he sometimes lost his entire investment in Rajaratnam's hedge fund. He was not involved in trading and he also did not tip of Rajaratnam, claimed Naftalis.