Mike Lynch: There was no missing cash – or luxury villas in Bahamas

Tech tycoon Mike Lynch has said attempts to extradite him to the US are an ‘insult to the sovereignty of the UK’s courts’ – and seemed to allay the buzz over alleged fraud by claiming that no money has disappeared.

Lynch is about to be turned over to US authorities for criminal fraud in connection with the controversial sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard.

It follows a damning Supreme Court ruling last year when it was found that he and his chief financial officer had tricked the US company into overpaying for Autonomy, which Hewlett-Packard bought in 2011 for $11bn (£9bn) . Lynch was found to have defrauded Hewlett-Packard by manipulating Autonomy’s accounts to increase the company’s value. He has always denied the accusation.

Compensation has yet to be awarded to Hewlett-Packard, though a judge has said it will be “significantly less” than the $5 billion it sought.

Now, in a recent letter to his supporters, seen by The Mail on Sunday, Lynch claims the row over Autonomy was “an argument about accounting treatment and valuation metrics,” adding, “Critically, Autonomy was never missing money.” Every penny is there.’

And, in a clear reference to Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed crypto-currency exchange FTX, who was recently extradited from the Bahamas to charge fraud in the US, Lynch added: “Nobody was using corporate funds to buy luxury to buy. villas in the Bahamas or support a failed hedge fund, which from my couch seems to be what happens when things really go wrong in situations like FTX.’

Lynch thanked his supporters and vowed to continue fighting, but admitted there was “no change in the rendition system that could affect my case,” adding, “But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be changed.”

And he warned: ‘What happens to me today can happen to anyone tomorrow. Other British businessmen may find themselves being sued by US companies who may also point the loaded gun of a criminal charge against them in what is essentially a commercial dispute, leaving them at the mercy of this extradition treaty.

“This is certainly an affront to the sovereignty of the British courts and the British legal system. Isn’t it time, to use an expression, that we ‘take back control’? ‘

Lynch said it was “highly likely” that his extradition appeal would be heard in the Supreme Court in the coming months.

“Oddly enough, the extradition court may be asked to make a decision before the civil court determines what, if any, damages Hewlett-Packard may have incurred as a result of the Autonomy transaction,” he said. He added that “there was no $5 billion fraud at Autonomy, as Hewlett-Packard originally claimed,” and said, “The so-called loss to Hewlett-Packard may turn out to be nothing. Even Hewlett-Packard’s own auditors agree that the matters in their complaint had no material impact on the valuation.’

Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, has already been jailed for five years in the US after pleading guilty to fraud related to the deal.