Mr. Lynch's lawyers have asked the High Court to overturn the Home Secretary's decision to extradite him. Credit: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
Autonomy founder Mike Lynch may ask Europe to reverse the British government's decision and block his extradition to the US under plans being considered by the tech entrepreneur.
Mr Lynch lost his appeal on Friday in the High Court of London. is trying to block his extradition to the US, where he faces criminal charges in connection with the sale of his business to Hewlett Packard for $11 billion.
HP cut the value of the technology company by $8.8 billion just a year after the incident. Acquired in 2011.
In January 2022, the Home Secretary ruled that Lynch, once seen as Britain's answer to Bill Gates, should be sent to the US to face 17 fraud charges.
On Friday, the 54-year-old lost his appeal in The High Court, trying to overturn the government's decision.
Lord Justice Lewis and Justice Julian Knowles wrote in their judgment: “We are not convinced that there is anything on this ground of appeal. It follows that this application for leave to appeal is denied."
Alex Beilin, KC, on behalf of Mr Lynch, argued that he should stand trial in the UK because the sale of Autonomy, the fraudulent inflating of its sales figures and the alleged subsequent cover-up are all events that took place in the UK.
In their ruling on Friday morning, the High Court judges said: “The fact is that HP suffered losses or its shareholders, most of whom are based in the US.”
" ;HP acquired Autonomy stock using a company that was wholly owned by HP, and HP provided the funds to purchase Autonomy."
The denial of leave to appeal Friday morning is one of the last legal stages. Mr. Lynch may be prosecuted in the UK to avoid trial in the US.
A spokesman for Mr. Lynch said the entrepreneur was «very disappointed.» but «was reviewing the decision and will continue to explore options for appeal, including to the European Court of Human Rights.» a threat to the rights of all British citizens and to UK sovereignty.
US Attorney's Office accuses Mr. Lynch of fraudulently inflating Autonomy's bills to trick HP into buying a British company at an inflated price.
After write-offs by HP, the company has opened the largest civil fraud case in UK history against Mr Lynch and his key aides.
One of those aides, former Autonomy CFO Sushovan Hussain, was convicted of fraud in the US. and is currently serving a five-year prison sentence.
U.S. Attorney's Office charged the founder of Autonomy with fraud in 2018, adding additional charges ahead of a London fraud trial in 2020.
>Last May, the High Court ruled that HP was «substantially successful» in its £3.3bn fraud claim against Lynch. The damages are yet to be determined.
Mr. Lynch's defense in the High Court was based on Deloitte's signing of Autonomy's accounts. In 2020, the accounting regulator fined the accounting firm £15m for «serious and serial failures». regarding Autonomy accounts.
Deloitte settled out of court for $45 million with HP in 2016, shortly after the US technology company sued the Autonomy founder in civil fraud claims.
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