Rajat Gupta sues New Silk Route chief on breach of contract

NEW YORK: Former Goldman Sachs Group Director Rajat Gupta, convicted last year on insider-trading charges, filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against ParagSaxena, chief executive officer of New Silk Route LLC.

Gupta agreed in February 2012 to step down from New Silk Route NSR's board of directors in response to Saxena's request that he distance himself from the company while securities charges were pending against him, according to his complaint on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan.

Gupta, 64, said he transferred his voting shares in NSR, an investment firm he co-founded, to Saxena, his partner in the venture. Gupta claims Saxena breached the agreement by improperly removing Gupta's designee to the board and refusing to permit NSR to acquire directors and officers' insurance. "Saxena is seeking to thwart Gupta's contractual right to designate one member" of the company's board, Gupta said in the complaint.

Raj Rajaratnam's Brother Charged With Insider Trading

Rengan Rajaratnam, the younger brother of imprisoned hedge-fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he took part in an insider-trading scheme tied to Galleon Group LLC. Rengan Rajaratnam, 42, is accused of conspiring with his brother to trade on material nonpublic information about Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) in 2008, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said on Thursday.