Judge denies motion to dismiss charges in CA case

U.S. District Court Judge I. Leo Glasser this week denied a motion to dismiss obstruction-of-justice charges against two former Computer Associates International Inc. executives, said Robert Nardoza, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Lawyers defending Sanjay Kumar, former chief executive officer at CA, and Stephen Richards, former worldwide sales head at CA, sought to dismiss charges that Kumar and Richards interfered with government investigations into fraudulent accounting practices at the software company.

In a memo dated Tuesday, Glasser denied the motion, which included a claim that the obstruction charges were not applicable to Richards because they were limited in their scope to tampering of “physical” evidence and did not apply to conduct of which he is accused. In the memo, Glasser said that obstruction of justice is not limited to just tampering of physical evidence.

Kumar and Richards are accused of fraudulent accounting practices, including falsely reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for licensing agreements during fiscal quarters in which the deals had not yet been finalized, according to the indictment. Several former CA executives have already pleaded guilty to related charges and are expected to testify against Kumar and Richards when the case goes to trial April 24. Computer Associates, which has changed its name to CA in the wake of the fraud charges, has also paid US$225 million to compensate victims.

Richards’ attorney David Zornow, with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, would not comment on the ruling. Kumar’s attorney Jack Cooney, with Davis Polk & Wardwell, was not available for comment.