British tech tycoon Mike Lynch has been cleared of fraud costs he confronted within the US over the $11bn (£8.6bn) sale of his software program agency to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
A jury in San Francisco discovered him not responsible on all counts in a surprising victory for Mr Lynch, who had been accused of inflating the worth of Autonomy, his firm, forward of its sale.
Mr Lynch, who confronted greater than 20 years in jail if convicted, had denied the costs and took the stand to defend himself.
In his testimony, he maintained he had targeted on expertise not accounting, distancing himself from different executives, together with the corporate’s former chief monetary officer who was already efficiently prosecuted for fraud.
“I’m elated with immediately’s verdict and grateful to the jury for his or her consideration to the details during the last 10 weeks,” Mr Lynch mentioned in a press release.
“I’m wanting ahead to returning to the UK and getting again to what I really like most: my household and innovating in my subject.”
College of Cambridge graduate Mr Lynch co-founded Autonomy in 1996 out of a specialist software program analysis group known as Cambridge Neurodynamics.
He led it because it grew to be one of many UK’s greatest firms, successful him comparisons to Microsoft’s Invoice Gates and Apple’s Steve Jobs.
The corporate, identified for software program that might extract helpful info from “unstructured” sources corresponding to telephone calls, emails or video, was finally bought to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011 in a deal that ranked because the largest-ever takeover of a British expertise enterprise on the time.
Mr Lynch made £500m from the sale. Only a yr later, HP wrote down the worth of Autonomy by $8.8bn.
Years of authorized battles adopted.
The corporate’s chief monetary officer, Sushovan Hussain, was discovered responsible of fraud in 2018 and later sentenced to 5 years in jail.
US prosecutors introduced costs towards Mr Lynch in 2018, accusing him of inflating the worth of the agency utilizing backdated agreements to mislead in regards to the firm’s gross sales; concealing the agency’s loss-making enterprise reselling {hardware} and intimidating or paying off individuals who raised issues.
Mr Lynch, who lives in Suffolk, was ultimately extradited after a UK choose dominated in favour of HP in an analogous civil fraud case in 2022. HP is searching for a reported $4bn in that case.
Mr Lynch, a former UK authorities adviser who sat on the boards of the BBC and the British Library, had confronted home arrest within the US whereas making ready for the trial which started in San Francisco in March.
Prosecutors had known as dozens of witnesses to the stand, together with the previous head of HP Leo Apotheker, who was fired shortly after the acquisition was introduced.
However the arguments fell flat. Mr Lynch’s staff pushed the argument that HP had didn’t correctly vet the deal and mismanaged the takeover, whereas he testified he was uninvolved with the transactions being described.
Decide Charles Breyer had already dismissed one rely of securities fraud in the course of the trial for lack of proof.
Abraham Simmons, a spokesman for the US Legal professional’s Workplace, mentioned: “We acknowledge and respect the decision.
“We want to thank the jury for its attentiveness to the proof the federal government introduced on this case.”
In addition to Mr Lynch, one other former finance govt at Autonomy, Stephen Chamberlain, was additionally on trial. He was discovered not responsible.
Legal professionals for Mr Lynch, Christopher Morvillo and Brian Heberlig, mentioned in a press release that they have been thrilled by the end result, saying it mirrored a “rejection of the federal government’s profound overreach on this case”.
“This verdict closes the guide on a relentless 13-year effort to pin HP’s well-documented ineptitude on Dr Lynch,” they mentioned. “Fortunately, the reality has lastly prevailed.”
