According to DealBook's Peter Lattman, Goldman has been on
the hook for nearly $30 million of Gupta's legal fees, which he racked up in
his monthlong insider trading trial that ended in a conviction last week. As a
former Goldman board member, Gupta is still protected by the bank's bylaws for
Goldman-related legal matters, which his insider trading trial technically was.
This is darkly funny, because Goldman hates Gupta!
To say that Goldman Sachs has paid Mr. Gupta's legal bills
grudgingly would be an understatement. Not only did Mr. Gupta abuse his role as
a Goldman director, the jury determined, but Mr. Gupta's lawyers assailed the
bank throughout the trial. They depicted Goldman as a cesspool of tipsters
feeding Mr. Rajaratnam inside information. A defense lawyer called Lloyd C. Blankfein,
Goldman's chief executive, who was forced to testify for three days, "cold
and callous."
Anyway, it's not a total loss for Goldman. Gupta will have
to repay the bank if his conviction stands….
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