International News

SAN FRANCISCO,(MILLAT+APP/AFP) – An indictment has
been issued by a US grand jury for a former Autonomy executive
accused of inflating British software firm’s financial performance
before Hewlett-Packard paid $11 billion for it in 2011.
Former Autonomy chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain
of Britain was charged with fraud and conspiracy crimes carrying
a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The indictment issued in San Francisco federal court on
Thursday calls for Sushovan to surrender at least $7.7 million
he made from his shares in publicly traded Autonomy when it was
bought by HP in what turned out to be a disastrous deal.
Beginning in October of 2009 or even earlier, Sushovan
and others engaged in a scheme to inflate Autonomy’s financial
performance to earn bonuses, gain prestige, drive up the share
price, and get more money from a buyer, according to the
indictment.
The scheme included false entries in books and records,
as well as “intimidating, pressuring, and paying off” people
who criticized or complained about its accounting practices,
the indictment said.