This item from the AP says it all:
Steven Woghin, the former general counsel at Computer Associates, was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday in connection with a scheme to artificially boost the software maker’s quarterly revenue through backdated sales contracts, prosecutors said.
Mr. Woghin had been cooperating with authorities since a guilty plea in 2004; Sanjay Kumar, ex-CEO of Computer Associates, received 12 years last November after his plea.
Here’s a rather vivid glimpse of life before the judge after a guilty plea:
Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge I. Leo Glasser, as well as about 15 friends and family members, Woghin reportedly choked back tears as he apologized for his crimes. According to Newsday, Woghin said his part in the affair was “not a legacy I would like to leave…It was not for personal gain or hubris.” Added Woghin, “I’m deeply sorry for what I have done.”
“I’m sorry you’re here,” Glasser reportedly told Woghin before passing sentence. “I would be happier if I had never seen you before.”
The crux of the offense was this:
In 1992, observed Newsday, Woghin was a 10-year veteran at the Department of Justice when he joined the software company previously known as Computer Associates. He allegedly headed up a team of CA lawyers that “routinely” drafted software licensing contracts with clients after a quarter had closed, according to the newspaper.
This was referred to as the 35-day month (artificially extending reporting months, usually the last month of a fiscal quarter).
The company is now known as CA; there’s something about crimes of former executives that tends to dilute a brand.