Tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch submits to arrest over US charges
Brit to fight extradition request stemming from controversial sale of Autonomy to HP
British software entrepreneur Mike Lynch has submitted himself for arrest as part of his US extradition over allegations of conspiracy and fraud stemming from the $11bn sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
Mr Lynch handed himself in to Charing Cross police station in Central London on Wednesday. He called his arrest “a formality” and said he would fight the extradition request, which comes as he awaits the outcome of a $5bn civil fraud trial in London’s High Court.
The 10-month trial was brought by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which accused him and former colleague Sushovan Hussain of manipulating Autonomy’s accounts and causing the computing group to pay $5bn too much for the company.
Mr Lynch finished testifying in December after a heated trial in which HPE accused Mr Lynch of telling “lie after lie” and Mr Lynch accused HPE’s board of experiencing “buyer’s remorse” and of engaging in a “witch-hunt”.
The verdict has not yet been handed down and Mr Lynch now faces extradition to the US to face 14 charges including wire fraud and conspiracy that could result in up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted.
The businessman was charged with wire fraud and conspiracy in the US two years ago over allegations that he was involved in a plan to inflate Autonomy’s performance before the company was acquired by HP, and fresh counts were added to the indictment in February last year.
In January former Brexit Secretary David Davis MP urged the government to delay the extradition of Mr Lynch until the conclusion of the UK trial. On Twitter the politician argued the UK needed to “rebalance our extradition treaty with the US”.
A San Francisco Court confirmed the US extradition request in November, leaving Mr Lynch facing the decision of whether to fight the order in the UK or comply.
Lawyers for Mr Lynch said the US request was “yet another example of the DOJ’s attempts to exert extraterritorial jurisdiction over non-US conduct” on Wednesday.
In a statement they said Mr Lynch “steadfastly denied” the allegations brought by HP seven years ago and added: “Dr Lynch has now answered HP’s claims in the appropriate forum, the High Court in London, where he attended court every day of the 10-month trial.
“During that trial, Dr Lynch testified about all of these allegations for more than 20 days. He has not hidden, nor has he shied away from defending his conduct. Having patiently and diligently defended the case in England for several years, he awaits the civil trial judgment.”
The HP/ Autonomy deal was also probed by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office in 2013, which examined alleged “accounting misrepresentations” at the UK software group. However the case was dropped in 2015 after the agency concluded there was “insufficient evidence” to bring it.