It just wouldn’t be 2014 with more news about the ongoing saga that is the HP / Autonomy allegations. It has been some time since we have seen any movement on this story however it seems to have sparked back into life in the USA. A recent article on the CRN website detailed a story that two US partners could be barred from future government deals in the wake of the fraud investigation that surrounds HP’s purchase of Autonomy. According to official reports it is alleged that a Virginia VAR helped to artificially boost the posted earnings of Autonomy before the £6.2 billion sales to HP occurred in 2011. Another New Jersey firm who are also an HP Reseller and six of its executives are also implicated in the reports.

The irregularities Autonomy has been accused of by its new owner have been strenuously denied by the man who had been dubbed the UK’s answer to Bill Gates, Autonomy’s founder Mike Lynch. The original reports from HP announcing that they had been forced to downgrade and devalue its multi-billion investment by over %8 billion due to the supposed financial misreporting which came to light following its acquisition.

What still remains unclear at this time is just how the numerous external accountants and auditors who were involved in the due diligence period during the HP takeover on both sides missed the supposed misreporting by Autonomy?! Their performance must surely come into question as we await the next stage in this on-going saga.

The fire that was HP / Autonomy died down slightly towards the end of 2013 and the Christmas period seemed to be a quiet time but somehow I don’t think we are nearing the end of this saga anytime soon and surely we are only a short time away before the next explosive episode appears on the horizon.

To read the CRN article in full you can find it at:http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2321198/us-reseller-implicated-in-autonomy-allegations