Autonomy finance boss faces US court over fraud

THE former finance chief of British tech star Autonomy will be questioned this week in the longrunning US fraud trial over claims he tried to silence critics who said the firm was overvalued.

Autonomy, whose bosses included billionaire Mike Lynch, was sold to US giant HewlettPackard in 2011 for £7.4bn, but it had to write off much of its value just a year later.

HP has since claimed the company’s financial performance was fraudulently overstated.

Court documents submitted by prosecutors in San Francisco allege Sushovan Hussain intimidated, pressured or paid off people who raised concerns about Autonomy’s accounting practices. The 54-year- old denies any wrongdoing.

In court he is expected to face Daud Khan, a City technology analyst who claims to have had multiple run-ins with Autonomy after questioning its accounts. Khan has said he was eventually banned from analyst meetings and the firm tried to obstruct publication of his research.

Lynch has dismissed allegations against himself and Hussain as a ‘personal smear’.