Former Computer Associates CEO, Sanjay Kumar Sentenced To 12 Years in Prison

Sanjay Kumar, former CEO of Computer Associates had pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction of justice back in April. He has been sentenced to 12 years and fined $8 million.

As part of a $2.2 billion accounting scandal he had falsely reported software licence revenues and lied to investors.

Together with other executives he was charged with developing a company practice, used in 1999-2000, known as the “35-day month” and instructing sales people to complete deals after the quarter had closed and remove the timestamp from faxes. It was used to boost the company’s software sales figures in order to meet analyst expectations.

I see a dangerous trend where intense pressure of meeting “analyst expectations” (to keep their over-salaried jobs) forces executives to conduct shady business practices. I think if we could somehow insulate the key executives from this continuous rat-race we may actually get more productivity out of them and less scams. via