Sanjay Kumar (business executive)

Sanjay Kumar (born 1962 in Colombo, Sri Lanka)[1] was the chairman and CEO of Computer Associates International (now CA Technologies) from 2000 until April 2004.

Sanjay Kumar
Born1962 (age 58–59)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Alma materFurman University
OccupationCEO of CA Technologies (2000-2004)

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison[2] in connection with the 35 day month accounting scandal[3] and released in 2017.

Early childhood

He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1976[1] to escape civil unrest in his native Sri Lanka. The family originally settled in South Carolina. He attended Furman University[4][5] from 1980 to 1983, and left without completing a degree.

Career

Kumar became an employee of Computer Associates in 1987[1] when it acquired UCCEL Corp. in an $800 million buyout. Kumar was, at the time, UCCEL's director of software development[4][6] and had been employed by UCCEL only for a few months.

Kumar was promoted to vice president of planning the following year, relocating to Computer Associates' Long Island headquarters. Over the years, he held various leadership roles at the firm. In 1989, he became senior vice president of planning[7] and in 1993 moved up to Executive Vice President of Operations. Kumar was named president and chief operating officer in 1994[4] at age 31. Kumar succeeded the retiring Tony Wang, the older brother of Chief Executive Officer Charles Wang, as Tony was pressured to leave to make way.

In 2000, Kumar replaced his mentor Charles Wang as chief executive officer of the firm and in 2002 became chairman of Computer Associates' board of directors. Kumar is widely credited for moving CA to be more customer-friendly.[4]

Resignation

Kumar resigned as chairman and chief executive in April 2004,[3][8] following an investigation into securities fraud and obstruction of justice at Computer Associates. He remained with the firm in the new position of chief software architect[1] for about six weeks before leaving the firm altogether on June 4, 2004. A federal grand jury in Brooklyn indicted him on fraud charges on September 22, 2004.[9] Kumar pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and securities fraud charges on April 24, 2006.[10] On November 2, 2006, it was reported that he was sentenced to 12 years[2] in prison and fined $8 million for his role in a massive accounting fraud at Computer Associates.

Prison

At the hearing in federal court in Brooklyn, Judge Leo Glasser sentenced Kumar, 44 years old, to 144 months in prison,[11] to be followed by three years supervised release. The judge deferred payment of the fine until after restitution is determined at a hearing scheduled for February 2, 2007. Kumar was scheduled to report to prison on February 27, but that was delayed by two months due to delays in the restitution hearing.[12] The start of the prison sentence was then delayed again, to November. However, in early June U.S. District Judge I. Leo Glasser ordered Kumar to surrender by August 14, 2007, to the federal correctional center in Fairton, New Jersey, to begin serving his 12-year sentence,[13] and on that date he did so.[14] Upon starting to serve his prison sentence, Kumar alleged that Charles Wang, cofounder of Computer Associates, "personally directed" improper accounting there going back to 1987. Kumar said that board members Lewis Ranieri and Alfonse D’Amato, the former New York Republican senator, “had knowledge of” the accounting misdeeds for which he went to prison — going back “at least” to 2003.[15]

"I stand before your honor today to take full responsibility for my actions," Kumar said prior to sentencing. "I know that I was wrong and there’s no excuse for my conduct."

Kumar was released from federal prison on January 25, 2017.[16]

Restitution

On April 13, 2007, Judge Glasser approved an agreement for Kumar to pay $798.6 million in restitution, at least $52 million by December 31, 2008.[17] After he serves his 12-year prison term, the government may take 20% of his future gross annual pay for restitution.[17]

Other investments

At one time, Kumar was a part owner, with Wang,[1] in the New York Islanders hockey team and New York Dragons arena football team, but, according to local news reports, Wang purchased Kumar's share in 2006.[18]

References
  1. "Computer Associates CEO Out Amid Scandal". The Washington Post. April 21, 2004. Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1962, Kumar and his family emigrated to the United States when he was 14. He was only 25 when he joined CA.
  2. "2 Years in Prison for Ex-Software Executive". The New York Times. January 17, 2007. Mr. Kumar was sentenced to 12 years in prison in November after he pleaded guilty to securities fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, making false filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission and making false statements.
  3. Alex Berenson (April 27, 2004). "Computer Associates Restates Timing of $2.2 Billion in Sales". The New York Times.
  4. Vivian S. Toy (May 7, 2000). "The Islanders' Unlikely Saviors; Wang and Kumar, Computer Executives, Say a Love for Long Island Has Made Them Sports Owners". NYTimes.com. The company's image has mellowed somewhat since Mr. Kumar was made president and chief operating officer in 1994.
  5. "He entered Furman University ... dropped out of college in his third year."
  6. "Mr. Kumar joined Computer Associates in 1987 when Mr. Wang acquired the Dallas-based Uccel Corporation, where Mr. Kumar was director of software development."
  7. "Compute". July 1991. Sanjay Kumar, CA's senior vice president of planning, said ...
  8. "Mr. Cron succeeds Sanjay Kumar, who resigned last week as chairman and chief executive after becoming the focus of a federal criminal investigation
  9. "CA's ex-CEO is indicted on fraud". CNN. 2004-09-22. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  10. "Ex-CA chief Kumar pleads guilty". CNN. 2006-04-24. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  11. "Sanjay Kumar: Lit. Rel. No. 19898". November 3, 2006. 12 years by Judge I. Leo Glasser of the United States District Court for
  12. LIBN Breaking News Archived March 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  13. Rovella, David E. (2007-06-05) CA Ex-Sales Executive to Pay $29.7 Million for Fraud (Update3). Bloomberg. Retrieved on 2013-04-02.
  14. The Register, 15 August 2007
  15. Taub, Stephen (2008-09-03). "Jailed CA Ex-Chief Kumar Points at Others". CFO. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  16. "Sanjay Kumar, former software executive, released from prison". NewsDay. Sanjay Kumar, former chief executive officer of Computer Associates, was released from prison in January 2017 after serving his term. ... was released from a minimum security satellite camp in Miami on Jan. 25
  17. Bray, Chad (2007-04-13). "Judge approves nearly $800 mln restitution pact with ex-CA CEO Kumar". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  18. Berenson, Alex (April 29, 2001). "A Software Company Runs Out of Tricks; The Past May Haunt Computer Associates". The New York Times.
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