Autonomy founder Mike Lynch's US extradition hearing will be in February 2021 Former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch will fight the US government's attempt to extradite him over HP's $11bn purchase of Autonomy Corporation in February next year. At a preliminary hearing this morning, District Judge Griffiths told the court she had received an email from District Judge Michael Snow, the trial judge, agreeing a …
I have to agreed with David Davis* on this one, if HP lose the civil case despite the significantly less stringent conditions attached to a civil case ("on the balance of probabilities" rather than "beyond all reasonable doubt"), then a criminal case should not stand a chance. Therefore, the extradition proceedings should defiitely wait to see the outcome of the civil case.
* Boy what were his parents thinking when they named the poor bastard. I guess he got them back by becoming a politician...
"muddying the waters with wrong statements isn't helpful."
Original AC is correct. As long as there is a valid warrant then there is no challenge possible. Regardless of facts or evidence related to the case. These are not allowed to be reasons to challenge the warrant.
The US is assumed to be acting in good faith, even in these Bill Barr/Trump times, the UK court does not permit challenges based on the details of the case. Everyone in the UK is vulnerable to the corrupted US legal process.
Lynch would be better doing what convicted fraudster Conrad Black did promoting Trump in a book. Quid pro quos get pardons these days:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/15/conrad-black-trump-pardons-ex-media-mogul
"Donald Trump has pardoned Conrad Black, the former media mogul who owned the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator before being jailed for fraud, shortly after he wrote a book praising the US president."
Fail No2.
Whilst you may be right in practice (99% of the time) you are wrong in fact.
The judge can override a request
As can an appeal court can override an extradition request under human rights legislation. (Lauri Love)
As can the Home Secretary. (Gary McKinnon)
(In practice I agree with you both, but factually you are both incorrect)
>>human rights legislation
Well that won't be around for long.
>>As can the Home Secretary. (Gary McKinnon)
Extradition finally blocked by a politician after ~10 years (and a string of lost cases) not by due process of law.
AC1 says, Fail Gordon 10, FAIL
You also forgot Nigel's mate Christopher Tappin.
What happened to the HPE v Mike Lynch judgement? That was supposed to be due by May-ish.
At this rate he could end up being dragged over to the USA before he's found not guilty. You could bet the americans wouldn't be willing to give him back in that circumstance.
I think that there's probably a large number of Trumpian moneybags, heavily invested in HPE stock, that have been huffing and puffing since 2012 to get something in return for that incredibly absurd $8.8 billion Autonomy write-off.
And it seems that what they want is Mike Lynch's hide, rotting in some US prison for the rest of his life.
Absurd because you could maybe have to write off 10 or even 15% because the deal was not as good as you thought, mitigating circumstances, etc.
But how is it that you have to write-off a whole 80%?
There obviously was no adult in the room when they pushed the Go! button.
What I fail to understand is the reason/s why they aren't after the auditors who signed off on the deal or the Bitchy Broad™ who was playing at being HPE's CEO and (by all accounts) apparently pushed hard for it go through.
I really hope Lynch gets acquitted.
O.
Trump won't mind at all. The losses will be offset against the gazillions he owes the IRS
I hope that the civil case fails with costs awadted against HP.
I say that as an ex-HP employee. Once upon a time they were a really great company to work for. Then they got seduced by the money men on WallSt. Went downhill like a skier after that. If is the HP management that need jailing. they made the decision to buy Autonomy.
I haven't seen a suggestion that Trump was invested in HP.
Highly leveraged real estate, especially apartments, hotels and golf courses, are his business. His tax accounting team seems especially skilled at writing off the expenses and losses several times over. But those skills aren't in line with technology investing.
What the original poster is likely suggesting is that the high levels of the US government seem readily swayed to do the bidding of private financial players. Although current set of pocket-liners is a completely different set of people from 2012.
Leo, Meg and Ray Lane are the ones criminally culpable of negligence for HP over-paying for Autonomy. Cathie Lesjack knew they were over-paying and they ignored her. She's guilty too of not standing her ground which is what a CFO is meant to do.
And look what a rip-roaring success Meg made out of HP.
I agree.
My view on this is that the reason that HP are pursuing this so aggressively is that they know that they well and truly f***ed up the due diligence and can't afford to be seen not trying to cover their collective arses while the rest of the IT world laughs at them. This is why they are trying to buy the best justice they can.
The worst case for HP is that Lynch is found not guilty because (I assume) it would then leave them open to all sorts of civil lawsuits from hedge funds and investors etc.
That said, the fly in the ointment is that this case is not really about the failings of the auditors or the flawed (in hindsight) decision to purchase or not; it's about, did Autonomy fraudulently (i.e. criminally) inflate their figures to attract the whale in the first place???
Of course, I'd like to see Lynch come out of this as not guilty, but I have a bad feeling...
It's clear all parties involved are culpable of misdoing in this sorry saga, although in different ways. Lynch unsurprisingly pumped up Autonomy’s perceived value as much as he could with the usual smoke, mirrors and possibly even falsehoods that many in his position do daily. But, blatant lying, dishonesty and spouting BS are not in themselves criminal offences which is just as well as the jails would be bursting at the seams.
For their part, it seems incomprehensible that such a supposedly professional company such as HP could make such an abysmal mess of the due diligence process. However, I've personally witnessed and lived through similar occurrences close-up before. It’s because large organisations consistently operate with people in senior positions who simply shouldn't be there. They lack the skills, the experience and the knowledge required for the position but somehow still manage to get magically appointed. Usually their incompetence and cock-ups are hidden or compensated for by the marching army below them in the hierarchy, but every once in a while the chickens will come home to roost. Cue massive embarrassment in a case like this.
Deloitte’s part in this was woeful but they have already been handed down justice for “serious and serial failures” in auditing Autonomy prior to the buyout.
It would be unfair in the big picture for Lynch to carry the can for the whole lot, but such is life. All too often the winners are the guys with the deepest pockets to pay for the most expensive legal representation.
Now, let’s check what’s happening with Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos….
... such a supposedly professional company such as HP ...
Incomprehensible, yes.
Quite so.
But that would have been over a couple of decades ago, before the HP/Compaq disaster went through, on that occasion led by yet another Bitchy Broad™ with political aspirations, Carly Fiorina.
Not an instant $8.8 billion write off, but still a huge failure: a $25 billion one.
How much is that in 2011 dollars? Maybe ~ $50 billion?
William Hewlett and David Packard have been spinning in their graves ever since.
O.
Was it an offer made by HPE or Autonomy's asking price?
I don't really think it matters, not one bit.
Let's see ...
I find you at the pub and offer to sell you my trusty ca. 2011 Asus 1000HE (worth maybe $50 because it has a 2.0Gb stick and has seen very little use) for $1500 but, instead of telling me to fuck-off, you say "I'll take it" and run off to the ATM to get the moolah before I change my mind and even though everyone around us is laughing.
or
You see me at the pub showing my mates a few photos of ... working on my trusty ca. 2011 Asus 1000HE (worth maybe $50 because it has a 2.0Gb stick and has seen very little use) and instead of laughing at my dated portable you say "what a nice Asus" and offer me $1500 for it. I obviously accept, so you run off to the ATM to get the moolah before I change my mind and even though everyone around us is laughing.
Now tell me ...
Just who is the dumb dickhead in these two different instances?
O.
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