HP May File A Lawsuit Against Former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch

Hewlett Packard announced earlier this month that they would be taking an $8.8 billion charge over Autonomy due to “accounting improprieties,” “disclosure failures,” and “outright misrepresentations.”  Former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch believes that he is being used as a scapegoat.  Below is a letter that Dr. Mike Lynch wrote to the board of directors at HP.

27 November 2012

To: The Board of Directors of Hewlett-Packard Company

On 20 November Hewlett-Packard (HP) issued a statement accusing unspecified

members of Autonomy’s former management team of serious financial impropriety.

It was shocking that HP put non-specific but highly damaging allegations into the

public domain without prior notification or contact with me, as former CEO of

Autonomy.

I utterly reject all allegations of impropriety.

Autonomy’s finances, during its years as a public company and including the time

period in question, were handled in accordance with applicable regulations and

accounting practices. Autonomy’s accounts were overseen by independent auditors

Deloitte LLC, who have confirmed the application of all appropriate procedures

including those dictated by the International Financial Reporting Standards used in

the UK.

Having no details beyond the limited public information provided last week, and still

with no further contact from you, I am writing today to ask you, the board of HP, for

immediate and specific explanations for the allegations HP is making. HP should

provide me with the interim report and any other documents which you say you have

provided to the SEC and the SFO so that I can answer whatever is alleged, instead of

the selective disclosure of non-material information via background discussions with

the media

In a statement, HP said that Lynch oversaw accounting fraud investigations in the U.S. and the U.K.  HP said that there is “extensive evidence” of financial improprieties.

“While Dr. Lynch is eager for a debate, we believe the legal process is the correct method in which to bring out the facts and take action on behalf of our shareholders. In that setting, we look forward to hearing Dr. Lynch and other former Autonomy employees answer questions under penalty of perjury,” stated HP (bold added by Pulse2).  It sounds like HP is ready to take Mike Lynch to court along with other former Autonomy employees.

[Fool.com]