Rajat Gupta not to testify in his own defense

Former Goldman Sachs's director Rajat Gupta, on trial over insider trading charges, has decided against testifying in his own defense.

Gupta's lawyer Gary Naftalis informed about the decision to US District Judge Jed Rakoff in a brief letter on Sunday.

The move came two days after the lawyer said it was 'highly likely' that Gupta would take the witness stand in his trial.

Gupta, 63, has denied that he passed secret corporate information about Goldman Sachs and Proctor and Gamble, which he became privy to during company board meetings, to convicted hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam.

The trial in the US District Court began on May 21.

Gupta has been charged with one count of conspiracy for committing securities fraud and five counts of securities fraud.

If convicted, the IIT and Harvard educated Wall Street executive faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and 20 years in prison on each of the securities fraud charges.

Image: Rajat Gupta