The names of a Goldman Sachs board member and a top executive of Berkshire Hathaway surfaced on Friday as potential witnesses in the insider trading trial of Rajat Gupta, a former director of Goldman, Procter & Gamble and other companies.
Gupta, a one-time global head of the McKinsey & Co consultancy firm, is the most prominent corporate executive charged in the US government's broad investigation of Wall Street insider trading, a probe that used secretly recorded phone conversations as evidence.
His trial is scheduled to start on April 9 in US District Court in New York. Gupta, 63, has denied the charges of securities fraud and conspiracy in providing inside tips about Goldman and Procter & Gamble board meetings to hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam.
At a hearing in federal court in New York to discuss potential evidence and potential witnesses, US prosecutor Reed Brodsky identified Ajit Jain, the top Berkshire Hathaway insurance executive, as a "close friend" of Gupta who has already been interviewed by the prosecution and defence. Jain is not accused of any wrongdoing.
A spokeswoman for renowned investor Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jain, who heads the company's insurance business, has been identified as a possible successor of Buffett's as chief executive.
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