NEW YORK – Sanjay Kumar, the former chief executive of CA Inc. (CA), was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison Thursday for his role in a $2.2 billion accounting fraud at the computer software company.
U.S. Judge Leo Glasser also fined the former executive $8 million. Kumar's surrender date was set for Feb. 27.
He was also given three years of supervised release for each of eight counts to which he pleaded guilty.
Kumar, 44, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction of justice in federal court in Brooklyn in April.
As part of the accounting scheme, Kumar improperly booked software license revenue from 1999 to 2000 in order to meet Wall Street analysts' profit expectations and then lied to investigators about it, the government said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Komitee told the judge that Kumar's actions represented "the most brazen and comprehensive obstruction in the modern era of corporate crime."
His lawyers asked for leniency, citing Kumar's good works.
"This is not a case where the fraud affected the fundamental health of the company," said defense attorney Robert Fiske. "CA is still a thriving company."
CA, previously known as Computer Associates International Inc., restated its results for fiscal years 2001 through 2004 after Kumar left the company in 2004.
The company agreed to pay $225 million in shareholder restitution and continues to cooperate with the government as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.
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