Sanjay Kumar, former software executive, released from prison

Sanjay Kumar, the former chairman and chief executive of Computer Associates, has been released from federal prison in Miami after serving nearly 10 years for orchestrating a $2.2 billion accounting fraud scheme.

Kumar, 55, a former co-owner of the New York Islanders with Charles Wang, was sentenced in 2006 to 12 years in prison and fined nearly $8 million. He began serving his sentence in February 2007.

Kumar, formerly of Upper Brookville, was released from a minimum security satellite camp in Miami on Jan. 25, said Justin Long, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Kumar previously was housed at a medium-security prison in Fairton, New Jersey.

Efforts to reach Kumar were unsuccessful.

Kumar’s wife, Sylvia, who lives in Naples, Florida, posted an image of a beach sunset on her Facebook page the day after her husband’s release, and a photo of the couple smiling together a week later.

“I always thought the sentence was too long, and I am happy that he is with his family because I know how important that was to him,” said Kumar’s attorney, Paul Shechtman of Manhattan.

The former software executive pleaded guilty to a scheme that federal prosecutors described as “the most brazen and comprehensive obstruction in the modern era of corporate crime.”

A 2004 indictment charged that in 1999 and 2000, Kumar falsely reported more than $2 billion in quarterly revenue and earnings at Computer Associates to prop up the price of the Islandia-based company’s stock. In 2000, the firm claimed more than $6 billion in sales.

Prosecutors said Kumar and other executives kept the company’s books open past the quarter’s end to give the appearance that the company had exceeded financial projections, when they had fallen short of those goals, and obstructed the government’s investigation by lying to FBI officials and paying $3.7 million to silence a potential witness.

Two weeks before his trial was scheduled to begin, Kumar pleaded guilty to securities fraud, conspiracy and obstruction. Kumar also agreed to pay $52 million in restitution to his victims, largely from the sale of his assets. The government has the right to garnish 20 percent of Kumar’s future earnings, according to the sentencing agreement.

Computer Associates, now known as CA Technologies, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in 2004 and paid a $225 million fine.

“It has been over 12 years since Mr. Kumar and other individuals responsible for these actions have had anything to do with the company,” said company spokesman Rita O’Brien. “CA Technologies has moved well past that era.”

Wang and Kumar purchased the Islanders for $187.5 million in 2000, and Wang bought Kumar out in 2004. In 2014, Wang sold a majority stake in the team to Jonathan Ledecky and Scott Malkin, but retains a minority interest.

An Islanders spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about Kumar’s release.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.