Tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, often referred to as Britain’s Bill Gates, has lost his appeal against extradition to the US. Lynch, founder of cybersecurity company Darktrace, has been accused of fraud in connection with the sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard.
Lynch is accused of fraudulently inflating the company’s value before selling software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. It is alleged that Autonomy’s accounts were manipulated, resulting in an additional $5 billion payment from Hewlett-Packard.
Next stop could be the European Court of Human Rights
Two judges at the London High Court rejected Lynch’s appeal and decided that he should be extradited to the United States to stand trial. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to 25 years in prison. Lynch, as usual, denied the charges and said he was considering appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.