Can 200 prominent people asking for mercy in sentencing of Rajat Gupta cast a spell on Judge Jed Rakoff? Among them, reports Bloomberg, are Bill Gates and former UN big wig Anna Kofi. Essentially they are framing Gupta as a man of many good works. They want that to be considered side-by-side with Gupta's conviction for insider trading.
All this brings up the question: How does the legal system judge a man? Should the crime be given the priority or should the focus be holistic, that is on the whole life of the man?
The sentencing will be in 12 days. Those who want to restore investor confidence in equities want the sentence to be stiff. That, they argue, would send the message to investors that others considering manipulating the system will be deterred. A lot of money has been pulled out of equities and put elsewhere, such as in bonds.
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