Guilty

NEW YORK, Apr.24 (AFP) - The former top executive of Computer Associates, Sanjay Kumar, pleaded guilty Monday to participating in a 2.







2 billion dollar accounting fraud and obstructing a subsequent investigation. The Sri Lankan-born Kumar, former chairman and chief executive of the software and computer security giant, entered the guilty plea together with the company's former head of worldwide sales, Stephen Richards.

Both men were charged with improperly inflating company income by continuing to book revenue after the end of a particular quarter -- a practice often referred to within the firm as the "35-day month" or the "three-day window."

Kumar, 44, left his post at the helm of Computer Associates in April, 2004 and severed all ties to the Islandia, New York, firm in June that year as a federal probe into accounting methods intensified.

Later the same month, the company acknowledged that it "prematurely" recognized revenues and restated results for fiscal 2000 and 2001 to correct about 2.

2 billion dollars in improperly reported income.

The obstruction of justice charge related to Kumar's alleged wiping off his laptop's hard drive as the government began its investigation.

Kumar was still a teen