A British tycoon who allegedly defrauded Hewlett-Packard when he sold his software company to the U.S. tech giant in 2011 has been extradited to the United States to face criminal charges.
In January 2022, the then Home Secretary Priti Patel ruled Mike Lynch—who founded Autonomy in 1996—could be extradited to the United States, where he is wanted on charges of perpetrating a $5 billion (£3.9 billion) fraud.
Lynch, 57, denied the charges and appealed against extradition. But a High Court judge rejected his appeal last month.
A Home Office spokesman said: “On April 21, the High Court refused Dr. Lynch’s permission to appeal his extradition. As a result, the normal 28-day statutory deadline for surrender to the U.S. applies.
“Dr. Lynch was extradited to the U.S. on May 11.”
According to court documents, Lynch arrived in San Francisco on a commercial flight accompanied by U.S. Marshals.
A court filing said: “After lengthy extradition proceedings in the United Kingdom, Defendant Michael Richard Lynch has finally landed on our shores to stand trial, accompanied by the United States Marshals Service.”
Appearing in court on Thursday, Lynch pleaded not guilty to all 17 charges.
He was ordered by a judge to pay a $100 million bond, hand over his passport, and to be placed under 24-hour guard to secure his release.
Fraud Allegations
Autonomy was sold to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion (£8.8 billion) in 2011, but a year later the U.S. firm announced a huge write-down, which reduced HP Autonomy’s value by $8.8 billion (£7 billion).In 2018, Lynch, who is accused of manipulating the company’s accounts to inflate its value, was charged with conspiracy and fraud by a court in California. Also indicted was Autonomy’s former vice-president for finance, Stephen Chamberlain.
HP has already sued Lynch—who has a Ph.D. in signal processing from Cambridge University and founded the company in the city—and Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, for $5 billion (£3.9 billion) at the High Court in London.
A High Court judge, Mr. Justice Hildyard, who oversaw that trial, said HP had “substantially succeeded” in its various claims against the two men but warned the U.S. firm will get “substantially less” than the amount claimed in damages.
Lynch has said he intends to appeal against Hildyard’s ruling.
‘Dreadful’ Extradition Treaty
After his appeal was rejected in April, Lynch said, “The United States’ legal overreach into the UK is a threat to the rights of all British citizens and the sovereignty of the UK.”His case is covered by the 2003 Extradition Act, which made it easier for British citizens to be extradited to a number of countries, including the United States.
Conservative MP David Davis said on Friday that it is a “dreadful” treaty, which was drawn up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001 and was intended to target terrorists, murderers, and paedophiles.
But the former Brexit secretary told the BBC that two-thirds of people extradited from the UK to the United States have been targeted for “non-violent, mostly white collar crimes.”
He said Lynch’s extradition was “devastating” and predicted it would have a “hideously chilling effect” on future London Stock Exchange sales.
“If you were a young software writer or bio-chemist with a new drug or new treatment, and you built a company out of it, the last place now you are going to launch your company is on the London Stock Exchange,” Davis said.
