An Indian IT professional is in the news again, but this time, for all the wrong reasons. Varun Gupta, who used to work with Intel previously and was a graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay a significant fine for leaking thousands of confidential Intel files to Microsoft. The court sentencing, which took place in a US District Court, once again brings forward the serious risks of corporate espionage in the competitive tech industry.
Gupta, who spent a decade as a product marketing engineer at Intel, was found to have copied a vast number of sensitive documents from his former employer’s systems before he left to join Microsoft in early 2020. Among the files he stole was a crucial PowerPoint presentation that detailed Intel’s pricing strategies for a major client.
Ex-IIT graduate prosecuted by the US
Prosecutors argued that these stolen documents were not only crucial in helping him secure a senior role at Microsoft, but also provided his new company with a big advantage in negotiations against Intel.
The prosecution, led by Assistant US Attorney William Narus, had pushed for an eight-month federal prison sentence for Gupta, highlighting the deliberate and calculated nature of Gupta’s actions. However, Judge Amy Baggio opted against imprisonment.
In her ruling, she imposed a fine of $34,472, which was calculated to be equivalent to the cost of the eight months of prison requested by the prosecution. Judge Baggio noted that this financial penalty, combined with the severe damage to his professional reputation, served as a fitting punishment for his misconduct.
Gupta has paid the price
Gupta’s defense attorney, David Angeli, characterised the theft as a “serious error in judgment” and highlighted the steep price his client has already paid. They said that Gupta had already suffered loss of his high-profile industry roles and had to go through a $40,000 settlement paid to Intel in a civil lawsuit.
Following the resolution of the case, Gupta has relocated to France with his family and strayed away from the semiconductor business. In a significant career change, he is reportedly pursuing studies in vineyard management, with aspirations of becoming a technical director in the viticulture field.