Autonomy Corp. founder Mike Lynch has asked a London court for permission to appeal his extradition to the US to face criminal charges over the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. sale fraud.
(Bloomberg) — Autonomy Corp. founder Mike Lynch has asked a London court for permission to appeal his extradition to the US to face criminal charges over the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. sale fraud.
Lawyers for Lynch asked judges at London’s High Court Wednesday for the right to try to block his extradition to the US after the UK government approved it in January 2022. This followed a separate court judgment that he was dishonest in the $11 billion sale of his company.
Lynch, who was at the hearing, is seeking to appeal on five grounds, with his main argument being that the criminal case against him should be in the UK where the bulk of the events allegedly occurred.
“These matters belong firmly in the UK,” Alex Bailin, Lynch’s lawyer, said at the hearing. “Extradition is not in the interest of justice and the allegations can fairly be tried here.”
It’s the latest chapter in a legal saga that began shortly after the 2011 sale of Lynch’s Autonomy to Hewlett Packard. A year after the sale, the Silicon Valley hardware giant wrote down the value of the deal by $8.8 billion.
Bailin said that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office has “expressly reserved” its rights to prosecute Lynch in the UK if the extradition is refused. This is despite the SFO previously opening an investigation and closing the case without any charges.
The US government opposed the application to appeal. Its lawyers said that the “USA was integral to all aspects of the alleged fraud” and that the extradition should proceed as it was predominantly US-based shareholders who were victims of the fraud, according to court documents prepared for the hearing.
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