<p>Indian-American corporate honcho Rajat Gupta has been warned by a US judge that he cannot beat insider trading charges by trumpeting his history of philanthropy any more than Mother Teresa could use her missionary work to fend off bank robbery charges.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"If Mother Teresa were charged with bank robbery, the jury would still have to determine whether or not she committed a bank robbery," US District Judge Jed Rakoff was quoted as saying by Courthouse News Service.<br /><br />64-year-old Gupta's trial that starts from Monday has been the most closely watched financial crime case.<br /><br />The other keenly watched trial was that of his alleged co-conspirator Raj Rajaratnam, the former Galleon hedge fund's billionaire chief, who was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison and fined USD 156.6 million.<br /><br />Judge Jed Rakoff's comments came as former Goldman Sachs director Gupta's attorney Gary Naftalis urged him to reconsider a decision limiting the time defence attorneys can spend talking about their client's charitable works.<br /><br />The Judge had also said he could allow secretly recorded telephone conversations between Gupta and Rajaratnam to be played during the trial of the corporate executive next week.</p>
<p>Indian-American corporate honcho Rajat Gupta has been warned by a US judge that he cannot beat insider trading charges by trumpeting his history of philanthropy any more than Mother Teresa could use her missionary work to fend off bank robbery charges.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"If Mother Teresa were charged with bank robbery, the jury would still have to determine whether or not she committed a bank robbery," US District Judge Jed Rakoff was quoted as saying by Courthouse News Service.<br /><br />64-year-old Gupta's trial that starts from Monday has been the most closely watched financial crime case.<br /><br />The other keenly watched trial was that of his alleged co-conspirator Raj Rajaratnam, the former Galleon hedge fund's billionaire chief, who was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison and fined USD 156.6 million.<br /><br />Judge Jed Rakoff's comments came as former Goldman Sachs director Gupta's attorney Gary Naftalis urged him to reconsider a decision limiting the time defence attorneys can spend talking about their client's charitable works.<br /><br />The Judge had also said he could allow secretly recorded telephone conversations between Gupta and Rajaratnam to be played during the trial of the corporate executive next week.</p>