Autonomy founder Mike Lynch will begin his high court defence on Monday against accusations of a $5 billion (£3.8 billion) fraud, as US prosecutors unveil new criminal charges alleging a cover-up. The civil case, brought by HP's successor companies, claims Lynch fraudulently inflated the value of the Cambridge-based software firm before its £8 billion takeover by Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
Separately, Lynch faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty on 17 US criminal charges, including conspiracy and wire fraud. The US Justice Department seeks to confiscate $804 million (£608 million) allegedly obtained through fraud. A trial is expected next year.
A new US indictment, filed in San Francisco, alleges Lynch and former Autonomy executive Stephen Chamberlain conspired to cover up fraud by destroying documents, paying hush money to former employees, and laundering proceeds from the HP deal. Lynch strongly denies all allegations, with a spokesperson calling them 'baseless, egregious charges'.
Lynch's lawyers criticised US prosecutors for a 'wild west, shoot first, ask questions later' approach, stating that alleged hush money referred to legal employment of former colleagues. The cases are closely watched in UK tech circles. Lynch was a director of Darktrace until November and remains a director of Luminance Technologies and Invoke Capital.
