Former Autonomy Financial Chief Indicted on Felony Fraud Charges
November 11 2016 - 6:48PM
Dow Jones News
Federal prosecutors indicted former Autonomy Corp. Chief
Financial Officer Sushovan Hussain over claims of deception in
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s $11 billion acquisition of the company in
2011.
The charges, filed on Thursday in a San Francisco federal court,
allege that Mr. Hussain and others "engaged in a fraudulent scheme
to deceive purchasers and sellers of Autonomy securities and HP
about the true performance of Autonomy's business, its financial
condition, and its prospects for growth."
In the indictment, prosecutors accuse Mr. Hussain and others of
a variety of fraud including artificially inflated Autonomy's
revenues, making false and misleading statements about company
finances, and issuing false and misleading quarterly and annual
reports. The indictment also accuses the former CFO and others of
"intimidating, pressuring and paying off persons who raised
complaints about or openly criticized Autonomy's financial
practices and performance."
In an email, Mr. Hussain's lawyer, John Keker, said his client
is innocent and expects him to be acquitted at trial.
"It is a shame that the Department of Justice is lending its
support to HP's attempts to blame others for its own catastrophic
failings," Mr. Keker said in a statement.
Last year, H-P agreed to pay $100 million to settle a
shareholder lawsuit related to the company's troubled acquisition
of the British software maker. H-P also accused Autonomy of
improperly reporting $709 million in revenue over two and a half
years before it bought the company.
H-P eventually took an $8.8 billion write-down on the deal.
Write to Jay Greene at Jay.Greene@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 11, 2016 18:33 ET (23:33 GMT)
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