US govt indicts ex-Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch for fraud on $11-bn HP sale

Lynch used false and misleading statements from 2009, 2010 and early 2011 'to make Autonomy more attractive to a potential purchaser like HP'

Michael Lynch, a British entrepreneur and former chief executive officer of Autonomy Corp., was criminally charged with fraud by the U.S. tied to the British software maker’s 2011 acquisition by Hewlett-Packard Co.

Prosecutors had long identified Lynch, 53, as a co-conspirator with his chief financial officer at Autonomy, Sushovan Hussain, who was found guilty in April of orchestrating an accounting fraud to arrive at the $10.3 billion price Hewlett-Packard paid for the company. Attorneys for Autonomy was the U.K.’s second-largest software business at the time. Hewlett-Packard later wrote down its value by $8.8 billion, citing fraud by Autonomy and asking