Autonomy founder Mike Lynch extradited to US

British businessman Mike Lynch has been extradited to the US after losing a long-running legal battle, it was reported on Friday.

A Home Office spokesperson confirmed reports that the co-founder of software firm Autonomy Holdings had landed in the US on Thursday.

Lynch – one of the UK’s most high profile entreprenuers – is facing 17 criminal charges of fraud in the US related to the $11bn sale of Autonomy to Hewlett Packard in 2011.

Within a year of buying the business, HP had written down the value of the deal by $8.8bn and brought a civil lawsuit in London against both Lynch and Autonomy’s former chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain.

It has accused Lynch and Hussain of conducting a “systematic and sustained scheme” to make Autonomy look like it was performing better than it was in reality. It also claimed that revenues had been “artificially inflated”.

Lynch has long denied any wrongdoing. He has also fought extradition proceedings in the British courts, arguing that he should face any prosecution in Britain. But in April the High Court refused him permission to appeal, paving the way for the extradition.

Hussain was convicted of fraud in 2019 and is currently serving a five-year sentence in the US.