A U.S. jury on Monday convicted the former chief financial officer of British software company Autonomy of wire fraud and other crimes related to claims by the government that he inflated the firm’s value before its planned sale to Hewlett Packard, a Justice Department spokesman said.
Federal prosecutors brought criminal conspiracy and wire fraud charges against Sushovan Hussain in 2016, alleging that beginning in 2009, he and others sought to deceive Autonomy’s investors and HP about the company’s financial condition and prospects for growth. The scheme had several objectives, an indictment said, including to artificially increase and maintain Autonomy’s share price to make the company attractive to potential buyers like HP, which agreed to buy it in 2011 for $11 billion.
