"Gupta was honored with the highest trust of leading public companies, and he betrayed that trust by disclosing their most sensitive and valuable secrets," SEC enforcement division chief Robert Khuzami said in a statement. "Directors who violate the sanctity of board room confidences for private gain will be held to account for their illegal actions." Procter & Gamble announced that Gupta, who joined the board of directors in 2007, had "voluntarily" resigned Tuesday, effective immediately. He "vigorously denied" the SEC's accusations but stepped down "to prevent any distraction to the P&G board and our business," Paul Fox, spokesman for the global pharmaceuticals and consumer products giant, told AFP. P&G is "cooperating fully" with the investigation, he added. According to the SEC, Gupta had tipped off Galleon that P&G would have lower-than-expected sales growth in the 2008 final quarter, allowing the hedge fund to pocket illicit profits of more than $570,000.