The co-defendant in the fraud trial of missing technology tycoon Mike Lynch was killed after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday.
Stephen Chamberlain was cleared earlier this year alongside Lynch of 15 charges of fraud and conspiracy over the sale of British software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
Fifty-nine-year-old Lynch is confirmed as one of the six tourists missing after the Bayesian luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning.
Police Appeal for Witnesses to Collision
The driver of the car, a 49-year-old woman, remained at the scene and is assisting with enquiries.Cambridgeshire Police said in a statement: “The pedestrian involved in the collision on Saturday has died in hospital and can now be named as 52-year-old Stephen Chamberlain of Station Road, Longstanton, Cambridgeshire.”
Chamberlain’s lawyer, Gary Lindenberg, also released a statement, calling him “a dear client and friend.”
“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him.
“Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family.”
The Chamberlain family paid tribute to him, saying, “Steve was a much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend.
“He was an amazing individual whose only goal in life was to help others in any way possible.
“He made a lasting impression on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.
Acquitted of Multiple Charges
Chamberlain and Lynch were found not guilty of all charges they faced in June following a trial at a federal court in San Francisco, California.HP acquired Cambridge-based Autonomy, founded by Lynch in 1996, for $11 billion in 2011, but later found its true value was $2.2 billion and asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate fraud, claiming its value had been artificially inflated.
Chamberlain, a former vice president of finance at the company, was also accused of making false and misleading statements to auditors, analysts and regulators in 2018, in addition to the charges related to the sale of the company.
Lynch, who was made an OBE for services to enterprise in 2006, was extradited to the United States for trial following a high court battle and the intervention on his behalf by a number of MPs, including Sir David Davis.
Worth an estimated £850 million, he is a former advisor to then-Prime Minister David Cameron and has sat on the board of many high profile organisations, including the BBC.
Lynch’s Daughter, 18, Among the Missing
Four of the missing passengers are British and two are American, according to Italian media, while Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah is reportedly among those missing.Fifteen people including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued, according to local media, while the body of one crew member has been recovered.
Lawyers from the firm Clifford Chance who helped to acquit Lynch following his 12-year legal battle were among those on board the yacht when it sank.
Lynch, who has a PhD from Cambridge University in artificial neural networks—a form of machine learning—has been dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates.”
He became a major figure in the so-called “Silicon Fen”—also known as the Cambridge Cluster—referring to the large number of high tech businesses focused on software, electronics, and biotechnology based in the region.
The entrepreneur made an estimated £800 million from the sale of Autonomy, but the deal led to a number of civil as well as criminal lawsuits. He was investigated by the Serious Fraud Office in the UK, and while no charges were brought as a result, aspects of the probe were ceded to the U.S. authorities.
In 2018, Autonomy’s former finance chief officer, Sushovan Hussain, was found guilty of fraud in the United States and sentenced to five years in prison.
The search for the missing people in Sicily was set to resume on Tuesday morning.
