Former Autonomy boss Mike Lynch settles data claim with SFO days before trial

Mike Lynch, the former boss of software firm Autonomy, has settled his lawsuit with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), days before the parties were due in court.

Lynch filed a data lawsuit against the UK’s fraud agency at the end of January, ahead of his criminal trial in the US.

According to his claim form seen by City A.M., he filed a data protection claim seeking access to personal data which may provide a complete defence for him in the US.

His claim stated that the SFO “unlawfully refused and continued” to refuse to comply with a data subject access request made on 13 November 2023 by Lynch under the Data Protection Act.

As set out in his claim form, Mike Lynch “urgently needs access to the personal data sought by way of the Revised Request. In his view, it is of critical relevance to a limitation argument he reasonably wants to make prior to the start of the US trial.”

It was revealed that Lynch had called on a legal team which contains the notable Lord David Pannick KC, along with junior barristers Julianne Kerr Morrison and George Molyneaux, all were instructed by Matthew Getz, partner at Pallas Partners.

However, on Tuesday, City A.M. understands that Lynch entered into a settlement agreement with the SFO, the terms of which are confidential. This comes days before the parties were scheduled for trial on Thursday at the High Court.

Lynch was extradited to the US last year on fraud charges related to Hewlett-Packard’s $11bn takeover of Autonomy back in 2011.

Hewlett-Packard won a six-year civil fraud suit against Mike Lynch after the High Court ruled in 2022 that he defrauded the firm by manipulating Autonomy’s accounts to inflate its valuation ahead of the takeover.

After Lynch lost the fraud lawsuit, the then-Home Secretary, Priti Patel, approved his extradition to the US, where he faces a total of 17 fraud charges related to the matter.

Lynch’s team declined to comment. The SFO was contacted for comment.