US Embassy in London files extradition request for ex-Autonomy boss over HPE fraud charges

The United States Embassy in London has filed a request to extradite ex-Autonomy boss Mike Lynch to face charges of wire fraud.

A spokesman for Lynch confirmed the reports but said no paperwork had yet been received.

Lynch continues to deny all charges. He is currently in the UK, where HPE is suing Lynch along with Autonomy financial chief Sushovan Hussain at the High Court in London, seeking $5bn in damages. Hussain also denies all charges.

HPE reckons Lynch and Hussain ought to cough up $5bn for what it claims is their part in overstating Autonomy's value and convincing the American megacorp to buy the company back in 2011. After the buyout, the US tech titan wrote down the value of Autonomy by $8.8bn, claiming the British firm "misrepresented" its value. Lynch, boss of Autonomy at the time of the acquisition, denies this.

According to documents filed in Washington DC over the weekend (PDF), the formal extradition request was made on 21 November and is "pending" with the UK government.

US authorities have filed multiple charges in the US accusing Lynch and co-defendant Stephen Keith Chamberlain of falsely inflating the value of Autonomy in relation to its $11bn purchase by HP. Lynch and Chamberlain both deny any wrongdoing.

Lynch's lawyers said last November: "HP has a long history of failed acquisitions."

Lynch is also countersuing HPE, which he alleges mismanaged the takeover, accusing senior managers of fighting "like cats in a sack". At the time, HP called it an "attempt to divert attention" from its own $5bn High Court civil suit. ®

The case is 3:18-cr-00577-CRB USA v. Lynch et al. You can see more of our coverage on both this case and the UK High Court civil case, here.