Former Autonomy boss back in court over loss suffered by HP
Lawyers for the former boss of software firm Autonomy will be back in court on Monday as Hewlett-Packard (HP) seeks damages over losses it suffered.
HP acquired Autonomy back in 2011 in a deal valued at $11.7bn (£7.4bn).
However, the company went on to sue British tech tycoon and Autonomy’s former CEO Mike Lynch as it claimed it significantly overpaying for Autonomy as a result of the fraudulent distortion by Lynch and Sushovan Hussain, Autonomy’s former CFO.
The case went to the High Court and concluded in January 2020, which the judge noted as “the longest and most complex in English legal history”.
Over two years after the trial ended, the court handed down its judgment in 2022, which saw HP win its six-year civil fraud suit against Lynch after the court ruled that he defrauded the firm by manipulating Autonomy’s accounts to inflate its valuation ahead of the takeover.
At the time, it was reported that damages would be considerably less than the £3.7bn claimed.
After Lynch lost the multi-billion pound fraud case to HP, the then-Home Secretary, Priti Patel approved his extradition to the US, to answer criminal fraud charges, in January 2022.
He challenged her decision at a High Court hearing in April 2023 but Lord Justice Lewis and Mr Justice Julian Knowles ruled against him.
Lynch was extradited to the US to face criminal charges last May.
His legal team will be back in court on Monday, with the consequential and further arguments to be heard in front of Mr Justice Hildyard over the next couple of weeks.
Elsewhere, it was reported last week that Lynch filed a data protection lawsuit against the UK’s fraud agency, the Serious Fraud Office.
It is understood by City PM that there will be a hearing on this case on Thursday 7 March.