“Mike Lynch Extradited to US for Fraud Trial Over Autonomy Sale to HP for $11 Billion”

New episode of the Autonomy affair: Mike Lynch was extradited to the United States last Thursday to be tried there for fraud, within the framework of the sale of his company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard Enterprise for an amount of 11 billion dollars in 2011. The legal battle with HP dates back more than 10 years and American justice has been demanding the extradition of Mike Lynch since the end of 2019.

The British businessman now faces up to 25 years in prison. To qualify for bail, he will have to pay $100 million and reside under surveillance within the San Francisco Bay Area.

As a reminder, HP executives accuse Mike Lynch of having lied about Autonomy’s activities and of having falsified the company’s accounts before selling it to the Silicon Valley giant. HP and its investors believe that Autonomy’s value was overstated and that the company was worth at least several billion less than the price paid.

Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, has been accused of artificially inflating his revenues and margins. Since 2019, he has been serving a five-year prison sentence in the United States after being convicted of fraud.