Over the past week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and ex-Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta have been making their lists and checking them twice. But the lists have nothing to do with the upcoming holidays. Rather, the SEC and Gupta have been compiling wish lists of deponents they would like to question as part of the agency’s insider-trading lawsuit against Gupta.
In March, the SEC brought civil charges against Gupta, alleging he leaked inside information to Raj Rajaratnam, the former hedge fund manager and Galleon Group founder who was convicted of criminal insider-trading charges in May. Gupta surrendered to the FBI last month. He also is facing separate criminal charges related to the alleged insider-trading scandal.
Last week, a district judge asked the SEC and Gupta to submit their top choices for deponents in the civil case.
Gupta’s list includes top Goldman executives Lloyd Blankfein, David Viniar and Gary Cohn; Boeing CEO W. James McNerney Jr.; former Galleon trader Michael Cardillo; and former McKinsey & Co. consultant Anil Kumar. The latter two prospective deponents previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
The SEC’s list includes Gupta; Rajaratnam; Rajaratnam’s brother, R.K. Rajaratnam; Galleon co-founder Gary Rosenbach; and Galleon trader Ian Horowitz.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the judge is considering whether to delay the depositions for the civil trial until after Gupta’s criminal trial, which is scheduled for April 2012.
