Anil pleads guilty, quits ISB post

Anil Kumar, a former senior partner in the McKinsey & Co, on Thursday pleaded guilty of taking money for providing tips in the alleged Galleon hedge fund insider trading ring.

Kumar has also quit as the member of Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.

“Anil Kumar has tendered his resignation from the governing board of Indian School of Business. His resignation has been accepted,” an ISB spokesperson told this correspondent.

Kumar, a co-founder of ISB, was on a leave of abs-ence from the board after he was charged in the Galleon insider trading case. It was also speculated that the board had asked him to step down voluntarily.

Kumar quit ISB as he on Thursday pleaded guilty in a federal court to conspiracy and securities fraud. Kumar said he had been paid large sums of money for the information on Mc-Kinsey clients by Galleon founder, Raj Rajaratnam.

“From 2003 through 2009, Kumar and Rajaratnam, who met in the 1980s while they were both at the same business school, conspired to engage in insider trading,” a statement from the prosecutor’s office said.

Kumar, 51, who left McKinsey after being put on indefinite leave, had been accused of providing insider information about McKinsey’s clients.

Kumar received “amounts ranging up to $1 million in certain years,” the statement said. “After Kumar provided this information to Raja-ratnam, he directed trading for the Galleon Technology Funds, and made at least $19.7 million in illegal profits,” the prosecutor’s office said.

“I understood the conduct was unlawful and constituted a breach of my fiduciary duty,” Kumar told the judge.

“Kumar recognises the fact that he has committed a serious violation of the federal securities laws,”Mr Robert .G Morvillo, his lawyer, said in a statement.