Mike Lynch can be extradited to US, judge rules

Mike Lynch, the alleged architect of Britain’s biggest company fraud, has suffered a essential defeat in his battle against extradition to America as he seeks to avoid probably a long time in prison.

The Autonomy founder, who is needed on expenses of fraud above the sale of the software corporation, moved a stage closer to trial on US soil immediately after District Decide Michael Snow said it was “in the passions of justice” to extradite him. Mr Lynch denies all expenses.

Former ministers attacked the decision, expressing any allegations against the businessman must be examined in the British isles and that the decide has disregarded forthcoming evidence.

Attorneys for Mr Lynch – when hailed as Britain’s remedy to Bill Gates – said they hope to attraction the decision if it is accredited by the Residence Secretary.

The fifty six-12 months-old faces seventeen counts of fraud in the US above the $eleven.7bn (£8.5bn) sale of Autonomy, the FTSE one hundred corporation he started, to HP in 2011.

HP wrote down just about all of Autonomy’s value a 12 months immediately after the offer, saying that previous executives at the corporation had inflated its revenues and gains.

David Davis, the previous shadow residence secretary, said it was an “outrage” that Mr Lynch must be tried out in a US courtroom.

“This is all about the purchase of our most significant software corporation, Autonomy, from the London Inventory Exchange, and a voluntary purchase by Hewlett Packard. That all happened in Britain,” he said.

“The implication of that for a business position of see, is that every solitary purchase or agreement by an American corporation, will be adjudicated by the American courtroom. That is really major put up-Brexit.”

Andrew Mitchell, the previous intercontinental improvement secretary, said: “This is a bizarre, incomprehensible decision that usually means none of us are harmless from the get to of American prosecutors. The Residence Secretary must replicate pretty cautiously without a doubt in advance of agreeing that this extradition can go in advance.”