Mother Teresa defence will not work: Court to Rajat Gupta

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.

"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.

64-year-old Gupta's trial that starts from Monday has been the most closely watched financial crime case.

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.

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.

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.