Technology giant Hewlett Packard has told BBC that the Serious Fraud Office of the UK is currently investigating the activities of Autonomy. This comes after a write down for the value of Autonomy just this past year.
According to HP, Autonomy executive management overvalued itself by about US$5 billion. HP purchased Autonomy for a whopping US$10 billion. Now, a joint investigation is being conducted by the UK SFO and the US Justice Department as to accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and misrepresentation prior to and during the acquisition of Autonomy by HP. Also included in the investigation team are the SEC and the UK Accounting Regulator.
According to the SFO, it has confirmed that 'allegations have been made to the SFO about the circumstances of the sale in 2011 of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard.' It has highlighted though that a criminal investigation does not mean that guilt has already been found or there was an actual crime committed.
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