‘Britain’s Bill Gates’ plans fraud charges fightback
TECHNOLOGY tycoon Mike Lynch was last night weighing up with a crack team of lawyers whether to fight criminal charges in America in a bid to clear his name.
Lynch was thought to be mulling over his next move at his Suffolk manor house, where he keeps rare breeds of cattle and pigs. The US Justice Department on Friday accused him of overseeing a massive fraud at his FTSE 100 software giant Autonomy before it was sold to Hewlett-Packard for £8.5 billion in 2011.
The tech entrepreneur, once dubbed ‘Britain’s Bill Gates’, could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. He denies the charges.
Lynch, who also owns a £20 million townhouse in Chelsea, West London, now has to decide whether to travel to San Francisco to contest the charges in court or fight extradition from the UK. London courts have the power to block extradition.
Lynch’s lawyers argue it is not a case for American courts because Autonomy, which led to multi-billion dollar writedowns for HP, was a British company.
If he tries to clear his name in an American court, Lynch risks suffering the same fate as his former colleague Sushovan Hussain, Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, who was convicted on similar charges earlier this year. Hussain is appealing.
Sources close to Lynch, who now runs his venture capital fund Invoke Capital, say he is confident in his case. American prosecutors have yet to set a date for the trial.
He resigned as a Government adviser on Friday, but remains on the board of several of Invoke’s investment companies.
Lawyers for Lynch called the indictment ‘a travesty of justice’.
Separately, Lynch and Hussain face a $5.1 billion High Court battle with HP in London next year. Lynch has countersued for $160 million over damage to his reputation.