US criminal charges filed against Mike Lynch

The United States has filed new criminal charges against Mike Lynch, founder of the British software company Autonomy, with new charges of securities-related fraud that could add to the 20-year prison sentence. that he had already suffered in the event of conviction.

The latest charges come as Lynch prepares to fight a $ 5 billion lawsuit for civil fraud brought by Hewlett-Packard, who claimed to have been misled about its acquisition of Autonomy in 2011. Civil case is to begin Monday in front of the London High Court.

The United States and HP have accused Lynch and other former Autonomy leaders of artificially inflating the revenues and profits of the software company. Former executives have denied the charges and Lynch claimed that HP had used these allegations to conceal its own mismanagement after Autonomy 's acquisition.

The Ministry of Justice first lodged a complaint last November against Lynch and Stephen Chamberlain, the company's former vice-president of finance. At the time, prosecutors cited fourteen counts of wire fraud and conspiracy.

The new indictment, filed in federal court in San Francisco, includes another count of conspiracy to commit electronic fraud, one count of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit them.

According to the latest accusations, MM. Lynch and Chamberlain attempted to conceal the alleged crime until last November by stealing or destroying HP documents, misleading investigators and using "hidden money" and "stealing money". other advantages to silence potential witnesses.

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The payments include $ 4.2 million that the US has used, according to Lynch, to buy shares in Sushovan Hussain, former chief financial officer of Autonomy. Mr. Hussain was sentenced in a San Francisco court last April for his role in the alleged fraud and is still awaiting his sentence.

The shares were in a private company backed by Lynch's venture capital firm, Invoke Capital. Attorneys in this case were seeking a court order for Invoke to release documents that may reveal more about Lynch's relationship with his former chief financial officer in the seven years since HP his charges for the first time.

New accusations of securities fraud against MM. Lynch and Chamberlain carry a potential jail term of 25 years, while the conspiracy charge is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. In the United States, judges have considerable discretion as to whether persons convicted of multiple crimes should serve their sentences consecutively or concurrently.