Mike Lynch’s co-defendant dies after being hit by car days before his yacht sank | Business News
Mike Lynch’s co-defendant in a recent fraud trial in the United States died in a traffic accident a few days before his disappearance.
Stephen Chamberlain, the former vice president of financial firm Autonomy, was hit by a car while jogging in Cambridgeshire on Saturday morning, his lawyer said.
Chamberlain faced the same fraud and conspiracy charges as his former boss – he is one of six people reported missing after a luxury yacht sank in an unexpectedly violent storm off the coast of Sicily. He was allegedly accused of plotting to inflate the value of Autonomy, then Britain’s largest software company, before it was sold to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
The couple was acquitted of all 15 charges by a jury in San Francisco in June.
In a statement on Monday, Chamberlain’s lawyer Gary Lincenberg, who described him as a “dear client and friend”, said he died after being “fatally struck by a car” while jogging near Stretham.
Over the weekend, Cambridgeshire Police appealed for witnesses and information after a man in his 50s from Longstanton was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
A blue Vauxhall Corsa was said to have been travelling on the A1123 between Stretham and Wicken when it collided with a pedestrian on Newmarket Road at around 10.10am.
A map showing the location of the A1123 Newmarket Road near Stretham
Police added in a statement: “The driver of the car, a 49-year-old woman from Haddenham, remained at the scene of the accident and is assisting with the investigation.”
Meanwhile, the search for Mr Lynch, 59, is still ongoing after a The British-flagged superyacht named Bayesian has sunk.
Mike Lynch. Image: PA
One person is dead and the British tech billionaire who Owner of the 56-meter-long ship (183 feet), is one of six missing people.
Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah is among those missing after his yacht sank, local media reported, but his wife Angela Bacares is confirmed to be among 15 people rescued after the boat capsized at around 4.30am local time (3.30am UK time) on Monday.
Follow the live updates: People missing after superyacht sank
Mr. Chamberlain served as Vice President of Finance at Autonomy until he left the company in 2012 to work as Chief Operating Officer for cybersecurity company Darktrace.
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According to his LinkedIn profile, he also served as a volunteer finance director for Cambridge United.
The sale of Autonomy was the largest tech acquisition of a FTSE 100 company at the time – but HP £5.5 billion of goodwill written off Within a year, revenue streams were inflated.
