The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), a British accounting regulator, said on its web site Monday that it’s launched an investigation into the financial reports Autonomy put out between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2011 right before it was acquired for $11.1 billion by Hewlett-Packard.
HP charged the British company with cooking its books and duping it into overpaying when it wrote off $8.8 billion of its investment in November. It referred the case to the SEC, which called in the Justice Department, and the Serious Fraud Office in Britain.
Mike Lynch, the founder of Autonomy, has roundly denied HP’s allegations. Lynch, who made a reported $800 million off the deal, claimed to welcome the FRC’s investigation and said in a statement that “As a member of the FTSE 100 the accounts of Autonomy have previously been reviewed by the FRC, including during the period in question, and no actions or changes were recommended or required.”