'No smoking gun' says Autonomy founder over HP spat

AUTONOMY founder Mike Lynch has said Hewlett-Packard has failed to produce a “smoking gun” to stand up its claims of fraud that caused the technology giant to overpay by some $5bn (£3.3bn) when HP bought Autonomy in 2011.

HP is suing Lynch and former Autonomy finance director Sushovan Hussain for over $5bn in damages over their management of the firm it bought for $11.7 bn, Reuters reports.

The US technology firm has said in its court filing that Autonomy was not growing as quickly as it believed and was losing market share when it bought the outfit.

But Lynch has dubbed HP’s claim as “a simple rehash of previous leaks and insinuations that add up to one long disagreement over accounting treatment. That’s not fraud.”

HP served its claim against Lynch and Hussain in London on April 17.

Lynch said contracts disputed by HP has been extensively reviewed by Autonomy’s Big Four auditor Deloitte, and no money was missing. Deloitte has rigorously defended its audits.

The bitter spat has led to probes by authorities in the UK and USA. The Serious Fraud Office ended its investigation earlier this year stating thagt there was not enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Investigations by Amercian authorities are ongoing.