British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch faced extradition to the US to confront criminal charges related to the $11 billion sale of his company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard.
Mr. Lynch, known as “Britain’s Bill Gates” in the past, will face trial for multiple charges, including fraud, which he has denied.
The allegations against him involve the accusation of artificially inflating the worth of his software company during the sale to HP in 2011.
The Home Office confirmed on Thursday that they extradited Mr. Lynch to the US.
The 57-year-old businessman, who is a founding investor in the UK cyber-security firm Darktrace, has long fought attempts by US prosecutors to stand trial in America.
US court documents have ordered Mr. Lynch to pay bail of $100 million, with authorities claiming that he poses a “serious risk of flight” due to his years of fighting extradition.
He must confine himself to an address in San Francisco and provide his own private security, which he must pay for himself.
Estimates place Mr. Lynch’s net worth between £988m and £1.1bn.
A court filing said: “After lengthy extradition proceedings in the United Kingdom, Defendant Michael Richard Lynch has finally landed on our shores to stand trial, accompanied by the United States Marshals Service.”
Appeal in the High Court
Last month, the High Court rejected Mr. Lynch’s appeal, in which he argued that he should be tried in the UK instead.
The Home Office said: “On 21 April, the High Court refused Dr Lynch’s permission to appeal his extradition. As a result, the normal 28-day statutory deadline for surrender to the US applies.”
As a result, authorities sent him to California on Thursday, where the trial will take place.
At the time of the sale in 2011, Autonomy was the UK’s biggest software company and it was the largest-ever takeover of a British technology business.
HP, primarily recognized as a technology hardware company, aimed to diversify its business by acquiring Autonomy.
However, just a year later, HP recorded an $8.8 billion write-down of Autonomy’s value and accused Autonomy of deceiving them into paying an excessive amount for the company.
HP, Mr. Lynch, and Autonomy’s former chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain have engaged in litigation ever since.
In 2019, the court sentenced Hussain to five years in prison and imposed multimillion-dollar fines on him for 16 counts of fraud, securities fraud, and other charges.
