The claims were investigated by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office but never led to charges. Mr Lynch had maintained that any alleged wrongdoing would have happened in Britain and so any prosecution belonged in the UK.
He fought extradition to the US but was ultimately transferred to California last May and was largely confined to a property in San Francisco in the run-up to the trial, forced to wear an ankle tag and be monitored by armed guards.
Mr Lynch said that US marshals had put him on chains and bundled him onto the back seat of a plane once he was taken into custody at Heathrow airport, placing a cap on his head to shield his identity. He told the Sunday Times: “It’s ridiculous. You’re in chains, even though, like, what are you going to do?”
He was acquitted in May after an 11-week trial in which he had taken the stand, a shock in a US system in which not guilty verdicts are exceedingly rare.
The Telegraph reported the day after the verdict that Mr Lynch planned to campaign against laws on US extradition, telling the Conservative MP David Davis: “We’ve got work to do to put this extradition treaty right.”
Mr Lynch awaits a damages verdict after being found liable for fraud over Autonomy’s sale in a UK civil case brought by HP. The US company is seeking as much as $4bn after winning the case in 2024, and Mr Lynch has said he plans to appeal.
However, Mr Lynch said the case is “not a perilous situation”, saying his wife had made a series of smart technology investments. Mr Lynch’s own net worth was estimated at $450m, his lawyer said last year.
