Former CA Chief Kumar Gets Prison Time

Kumar, 44, was handed the sentence and an $8 million fine by U.S. District Court Judge Leo Glasser in Brooklyn, N.Y.. Kumar could have been sentenced to as much as 20 years.

"I know that I was wrong, and there was no excuse for my conduct," Kumar said to the judge before being sentenced, according to published reports.

A call to Kumar's lawyer, Jack Cooney of the law firm Davis Polk and Wardwell, wasn't returned.

In April, Kumar and co-defendant Stephen Richards, once a top CA sales executive, pleaded guilty to a nine-count indictment charging them with securities fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, making false Securities and Exchange Commission filings, perjury and making false statements. The two men had originally pleaded not guilty.

The indictment was revised in July 2005 to include charges that Kumar authorized what amounted to a $3.7 million bribe in 2003 to keep a business client from disclosing CA's illegal accounting practices. The indictment alleged that Kumar was determined to hide an illegal practice of maximizing CA's earnings through the use of a "35-day month practice," which enabled the company to book licensing revenue it hadn't yet received.

Former CA CFO Ira Zar and two senior vice presidents of finance, David Kaplan and David Rivard, have already pleaded guilty to unspecified charges related to the federal case against CA, which was settled in September. CA as a company avoided prosecution by agreeing to undertake strict compliance and record-keeping procedures, and it set up a restitution fund of $225 million to repay past and present shareholders for losses caused by improper accounting activities.