UK criminal court sets trial date for Mike Lynch's US extradition

Lynch and HPE have also been waiting for a judgement in the civil fraud case following a 10-month-long trial

A criminal court in the UK has set a trial date for former Autonomy chief Mike Lynch ' s US extradition case.

Lynch appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday where he was told that he would face a five-day extradition hearing on 8^th February next year.

Lynch faces charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud related to the sale of his company Autonomy to Hewlett Packard in $11.1 billion deal in 2011.

A few months after the deal was closed, HP wrote down Autonomy's value by $8.8 billion, claiming that Lynch and former CFO Sushovan Hussain had inflated Autonomy revenues to make the company look more valuable than it actually was.

He was presented at Westminster Magistrates' Court and was later released on a £10 million bail pending extradition hearings. Lynch denies all wrongdoing.

In November last year, the US Department of Justice asked the UK government to allow extradition of Mike Lynch to face trial in a US court. The request was reiterated in December by the US Embassy in London.

The extradition application was filed even though the London High Court is yet to deliver its final verdict in the £3.3bn civil fraud case filed by HPE against Lynch and Hussein.

Both Lynch and HPE have been waiting for a judgement in the civil case following a 10-month-long trial, which concluded earlier this year. Lynch ' s attorney argued in the court that HPE had failed to provide any evidence of wrongdoing by Lynch and that the company filed the lawsuit "out of buyer ' s remorse."

Former Cabinet minister David Davis MP has also argued that the extradition proceedings in this matter should be stopped until the High Court delivers its final verdict.

Davis said that if Lynch is cleared in the civil case, it would be impossible for US authorities to win the similar criminal case if the trial is done fairly.

Meanwhile, American prosecutors have increased efforts to ensure that Lynch faces fraud charges in the US. Last week, a US federal court assured prosecutors that Lynch will not spend the trial period in prison.

In May 2019, a US jury sentenced Hussain to five years in jail and $4 million fine after finding him guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud. He was also ordered to forfeit $6.1 million.