Priti Patel orders extradition of tech billionaire Mike Lynch

Priti Patel has requested the British tech billionaire Mike Lynch to be extradited to the US to confront prison fraud fees around the $11bn (£8.2bn) sale of his program firm Autonomy.

The House Secretary accredited a ruling that Mr Lynch need to surface in a US court to confront statements that he illegally inflated the former FTSE 100 company’s sale to Hewlett Packard in 2011.

A Residence Workplace spokesman explained: “On January 28, adhering to thought by the courts, the extradition of Michael Lynch to the US was requested.”

Chris Morvillo of Clifford Opportunity, Mr Lynch’s law firm, explained that Mr Lynch “firmly denies the rates brought from him in the US and will proceed to struggle to create his innocence”. 

“He is a British citizen who ran a British firm in Britain subject matter to British laws and rules and that is where by the make any difference ought to be fixed. This is not the stop of the battle — significantly from it,” he said. 

Mr Morvillo additional that Mr Lynch will now file an charm to the Superior Court docket in London.

The Property Place of work order came just hours just after Mr Lynch misplaced a $5bn Superior Courtroom fraud scenario above the sale, in a defeat that discounts a blow to his prospects of properly captivating the extradition get.

A choose explained HP experienced “substantially succeeded” in its fraud case versus Mr Lynch and his previous chief economic officer, Sushovan Hussain, declaring the pair had been “dishonest” and “obsessed” with propping up Autonomy’s share value.

The US has billed Mr Lynch with 17 counts of fraud around Autonomy’s sale, saying he illegally exaggerated revenues in advance of the offer. Mr Hussain has been discovered responsible of fraud in the US and is serving a five-year prison sentence. 

Both equally have denied the promises and Mr Lynch is battling extradition.

Past yr, a choose said that Mr Lynch must be despatched to the US and gave Ms Patel two months to approve the get. But the Home Business had consistently delayed a final decision, expressing it required to see the final result of the civil situation.

Hewlett Packard, now regarded as HPE, sued Mr Lynch and Mr Hussain in London in 2015 in what grew to become Britain’s major fraud trial.

Mr Justice Hildyard, offering a summary of his extended-awaited judgment yesterday, explained that Mr Lynch had engaged in “contrived” specials with “no commercial substance” to mislead buyers, auditors and the company’s own administrators about Autonomy’s efficiency.