Former Computer Associates chief Sanjay Kumar and co-defendant, former head of sales, Stephen Richards, have pled guilty to fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice charges in relation to the $2.2bn (£1.2bn) accounting fraud at the company in 2004.

The two are accused of engaging in ‘systemic, company-wide practice of falsely and fraudulently recording and reporting’ quarterly revenues associated with licence agreements’, Computer Weekly reported.

The obstruction of justice charges related to claims that, through false statements and concealment of information, Kumar and Richards interfered with government investigations into alleged fraudulent accounting.

Kumar is also accused of erasing his laptop's hard drive to destroy potential evidence.

Computer Associates, now renamed ‘CA’, was forced to republish five years of accounts and also agreed to pay $225m (£126m) to settle with federal prosecutors.

Kumar and Richards’ trial is scheduled to begin on 8 May