Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- CA Inc.'s former Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Kumar was sentenced to 12 years in prison for leading a $2.2 billion accounting fraud at the software maker.

U.S. District Judge I. Leo Glasser imposed the prison sentence and an $8 million fine today in Brooklyn, New York, and ordered Kumar, 44, to report to a federal prison by Feb. 27. Kumar pleaded guilty in April to charges including conspiracy, fraud and obstruction of justice.

``His cupidity calls for a meaningful sentence,'' the judge said. Glasser noted he didn't impose the life sentence called for by federal guidelines and called imprisonment ``not an appropriate measure of promoting rehabilitation.''

The sentence fell short of the longest recent prison terms for executives convicted in the crackdown on corporate fraud after the collapse of Enron Corp. in 2001.

Bernard Ebbers, WorldCom chairman, got 25 years; Jeffrey Skilling, former Enron CEO, more than 24 years; John Rigas, Adelphia Communications Corp. founder, 15 years; and L. Dennis Kozlowski, former chairman and CEO of Tyco International Ltd., as long as 25 years.

Prosecutors said Kumar and other CA executives backdated contracts to inflate revenue at the Islandia, New York-based company, formerly Computer Associates International Inc., the world's second-largest maker of mainframe computer software.

``I apologize to the court for my mistakes and conduct,'' Kumar told the judge.

No Credit

Glasser refused to give credit to Kumar for accepting responsibility for his acts or pleading guilty to all eight counts he was charged with.

``That consideration is not warranted,'' the judge said, noting that Kumar pleaded guilty almost on eve of his trial and still contested his involvement in erasing his laptop's memory after learning of an investigation at CA.

The judge said he will order Kumar to pay restitution to victims of the fraud, after deciding on an amount by Feb. 2.

``Glasser didn't react to the current wave of harsh sentences being imposed upon white-collar defendants,'' George Stamboulidis, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, said after the hearing. ``As one would expect, Judge Glasser meted out a very fair sentence.''

The lawyer, a partner at Baker & Hostetler, said Ebbers and Skilling ``went to trial, professed their innocence and were convicted after hard-fought cases.'' Kumar pleaded guilty and expressed remorse, Stamboulidis said.

Long Sentences

``Judges in these white-collar criminal cases are going to be reluctant to impose sentences of 30 years to life unless there are extremely extenuating circumstances,'' said Jeff Ifrah, co- author of a book on sentencing in business crimes.

Ifrah, a lawyer with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in Washington, said sentences can be cut at a judge's discretion and by the defendant's cooperation and acceptance of responsibility.

A co-defendant of Kumar's, former CA sales executive Stephen Richards, 41, also pleaded guilty in April. He is to be sentenced Nov. 14. Neither man was promised leniency as part of the plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Komitee told the court Kumar deserved a long prison term because investors lost as much as $3.5 billion as the scandal caused company shares to plummet.

Kumar engaged in obstructionist acts, including wiping clean his computer's hard drive after being told to preserve evidence for a federal investigation, the prosecutor said. Kumar authorized paying $3.7 million to buy the silence of a potential witness, Komitee said.

`The Most Brazen'

Komitee called Kumar's actions ``the most brazen and comprehensive obstruction in the modern era of corporate crime.''

Defense lawyers asked Glasser for a light prison sentence followed by community service, citing their client's philanthropy.

``Kumar has already been severely punished,'' attorney Robert Fiske Jr. told the judge. ``His actions have brought shame to his family.''

The former CEO's charitable acts included paying for the education of 30 Samburu girls from Kenya and helping to develop tracking devices to study elephants, defense lawyers said.

Kumar, who immigrated to Greenville, South Carolina, from Sri Lanka at age 14, was named CEO in 2000 by the Computer Associates founder, Charles Wang.

The two men were rarely apart. Wang often told colleagues Kumar was able to fill in for him during meetings if Wang had to leave early. Kumar became chairman in 2002 when Wang retired.

Resignation, Indictment

Kumar stepped down in April 2004, after the company admitted it had backdated contracts, and became chief software architect.

A week later Computer Associates restated $2.2 billion in revenue, the amount of sales prematurely booked. Kumar quit in 2004. He was indicted on Sept. 22 of that year, a day after Computer Associates agreed to pay a $225 million fine to resolve the investigation.

In November 2004, John Swainson joined the company as president. He was named CEO in February 2005, the year the company changed its name to CA Inc. Swainson is cutting jobs and adding products as CA overhauls its sales group. The company reported today that second-quarter profit rose 15 percent.

Prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said Kumar's fondness for luxury and a desire to buy part ownership of the New York Islanders hockey team spurred the fraud scheme. The former CEO admitted conspiring to inflate company sales and interfere with a government investigation.

`The CA Way'

Fifteen other CA executives were indicted or fired over the fraud. Six besides Kumar and Richards pleaded guilty.

CA paid $225 million as part of a deferred-prosecution agreement with the government and is operating under government- supervised probation.

Witnesses including J. Christopher Wagner, former general manager of CA services business, said that under Kumar the company kept its books open past quarter's end to boost revenue.

``We called it the CA way,'' Wagner testified last month at a hearing. He left the company in 2000.

Wagner said the meetings were known as ``save the quarter'' sessions. Kumar held them on the sixth floor where executives had their offices, Wagner said.

Prosecutors said Kumar kept the books open for extra days so the company could recognize revenue from late-closing deals. Employees referred to the ``35-day month.''

Supporters urged Glasser to take Kumar's charitable acts into account. The judge said the sentence wasn't influenced by the good works or saving the government the expense of a trial.

``I feel confident in my belief that a lifetime sentence in a case like this is not reasonable,'' the judge said.

Kumar on leaving the courtroom spoke to reporters who asked his reaction to the sentence.

``Am I glad it's over?'' he said. ``I'm ready to move on.''

The case is U.S. v. Kumar, 04-CR-846, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).

To contact the reporters on this story: Patricia Hurtado in Brooklyn at pathurtado@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 2, 2006 18:07 EST