Kumar accuses D’Amato, Ranieri in CA coverup

Many have been waiting for Sanjay Kumar, the former CEO of CA (which in pre-indictment, pre-conviction days was known as Computer Associates) to break his silence.

Kumar pleaded guilty two years ago to charges of conspiracy, fraud, obstruction etc. etc. in part of a massive Computer Associates accounting scandal. He got 12 years. Now he’s talking, according to court documents uncovered by Newsday.

Reporter Mark Harrington ( a former colleague) has the goods so read the full story but net, net net, Kumar now alleges that former CA board members Lewis Ranieri and Alfonse D’Amato knew about the accounting malfeasance in 2003. That Kumar had told a special board committee several times but that information somehow never made it  into a public report filed by the board three years later. (D’Amato is a former Republican Senator from New York, sometimes known as Senator Pothole due to his penchant for constituent services. CA was one big, fat constituent.)

 Kumar’s charges came out in an affidavit filed by Sam Wylie, a former disgruntled CA shareholder who waged a proxy battle against the company a few years ago.  Kumar said the trip in the middle of the scandal–a trek to Paris to close a big deal, the revenue from which was wrongly recognized–was ordered by Charles Wang, the then-CA chairman and Kumar’s boss.

 CA has labored long and hard to put this mess behind it. In 2005, it recruited IBM long-timer John Swainson as CEO, changed the company name, etc etc. 

It’s worth noting that the names of messrs. Wang and Kumar are nowhere to be found on the CA website now. Wang co-founded the company. While Wang was not indicted, many suspect that nothing happened at Computer Associates without his knowledge.

Thanks to Jeff Schwartz for the pointer!