All About Fraud Trial that Acquitted Mike Lynch, Who Went Missing off Sicily's Coast During Celebratory Yacht Trip
Lynch had been accused of inflating the revenues of his company that he sold to HP in 2011
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty
Mike LynchTwo months before he was declared missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily, British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch was acquitted on fraud and conspiracy charges.
Lynch was apparently celebrating his acquittal with a holiday boat voyage when the yacht went down early on the morning of Monday, Aug. 19, local authorities previously confirmed to PEOPLE.
The officials said that Lynch’s daughter, Hannah, is also missing, along with four other people. The ship sank off the coast of Porticello following a “violent storm,” officials said. Fifteen people, including Lynch’s wife, have been rescued.
Lynch’s legal saga, which were also reported by the Associated Press and the BBC, had dated back to 2018, when he was indicted on several counts of securities fraud and conspiracy by federal prosecutors in California.
The indictment was related to the 2011 sale of Autonomy, a business software company Lynch founded, to Hewlett Packard. The sale, the AP reported, was for $11 billion and generated $800 million for Lynch himself.
Related: Tech Tycoon Mike Lynch and Daughter Among Missing After Luxury Yacht Sinks Off Sicilian Coast
Federal authorities in the United States had alleged that Lynch inflated Autonomy’s revenues prior to the sale to HP, TechCrunch reported.
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Following the sale, the tech news site reported that HP wrote down its investment — or, reduced its value on the company's balance sheet — by more than $8 billion, claiming that most of the write down was the result of Autonomy’s previous management being misleading about the company’s value.
Related: 6 Passengers, Including 2 Americans, Missing After 180-Foot Yacht Sinks amid Storm in Sicily
The trial didn’t begin until 2024, the BBC reported, because Lynch fought extradition to the United States for years following his indictment.
Lynch, who was facing 15 felony charges, was acquitted on all counts in June, the outlets reported.
“I am looking forward to returning to the UK and getting back to what I love most: my family and innovating in my field,” Lynch said in a statement reported by the AP following his acquittal.
TechCrunch also reported that Lynch's co-defendant, Stephen Chamberlain, who was also acquitted, died a week before after being hit by a car.
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