Former Computer Associates chief executive Sanjay Kumar has been sentenced to 12 years in prison and a $8m fine for his role in the vendor's $2.2bn accounting scandal. 

The former executive at the enterprise management software firm faced a maximum jail term of 20 years for obstruction of justice and securities fraud charges.

Kumar had pleaded guilty to the charges after prosecutors discovered that he had wiped his hard drive shortly after the government launched its investigation, in an attempt to dispose of any evidence.

The Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation into the company's bookkeeping practices in 2004. Kumar was forced to step down as CA's chief executive in April 2004 and left the company in June 2004. 

The company had prematurely recognised revenues from software licence deals in fiscal 2000 and 2001 that were actually signed in a later quarter.

The practice is known in the accounting world as the '35 day month'. The incorrect revenues helped the company's top executives meet requirements for lavish bonus packages.

CA has been forced repeatedly to restate earlier reported earnings in recent years. The firm restated its earnings over 2000 to 2005 in June 2005, and was forced to restate its earnings last May over the third quarter of fiscal 2006.