LONDON: HP announced that it has filed a $5 billion (£3.4 billion) heavy lawsuit against ex-Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch and CFO Sushovan Hussain, claiming they were involved in some fraudulent activities.
“HP can confirm that, on 30 March, a Claim Form was filed against Michael Lynch and Sushovan Hussain alleging they engaged in fraudulent activities while executives at Autonomy,” HP said.
“The lawsuit seeks damages from them of approximately $5.1 billion (£3.5 billion). HP will not comment further until the proceedings have been served on the defendants.”
Lynch answered by filing a suit of his own, worth some £100 million.
“The former management of Autonomy announces today they will file claims against HP for loss and damage caused by false and negligent statements made against them by HP on 20 November 2012 and in HP’s subsequent smear campaign,” the press team of Lynch’s new venture, Invoke Capital, told The Inquirer.
“Former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch’s claim, which is likely to be in excess of £100 million, will be filed in the UK.”
These legal shenanigans date back to 2011, when HP agreed to purchase Autonomy for $11 billion (£7.45 billion). Because of some financial mismanagement, this was an inflated price, later pushed down to $9.9 billion (£6.7 billion).
The firm said that $5 billion (£3.4 billion) of this amount was owing to alleged accounting improprieties at Autonomy.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) completed its study into HP’s purchase of Autonomy at the start of the year and found that there was nothing out of the ordinary.
