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HP Autonomy

Autonomy founder denies masterminding €5bn HP fraud

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By John Glenday, Reporter

May 6, 2015 | 1 min read

Autonomy founder and IT entrepreneur Mike Lynch has reportedly denied masterminding a multi-billion euro fraud on computer manufacturer Hewlett Packard, which purchased his business for €5bn in 2011.

That deal quickly turned sour when Autonomy failed to perform as expected, leading to accusations that Lynch and his finance director, Sushovan Hussain, had ‘systematically’ disguised the businesses performance.

HP has alleged that Autonomy deliberately overstated revenues from the final quarter of 2010 through to its sale in order to drive up its purchase price and further alleging that a US employee had been fired for querying the accounts.

Dismissing these claims Lynch told Reuters that the allegations were: “…a simple rehash of previous leaks and insinuations that add up to one long disagreement over accounting treatment. That's not fraud,” according to Sky News.

The Serious Fraud Office previously concluded that there was "insufficient evidence" to mount a successful prosecution and has passed the reins of the investigation to its US counterparts.

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