Following the news that the ‘British Bill Gates’ is missing after a superyacht sank in Italy, it has emerged that his former co-defendant in a fraud trial was fatally struck by a car just days prior.
The Italian superyacht, the Bayesian, sank during a severe storm off the coast of Sicily early Monday morning. The vessel was hit by a tornado, causing it to capsize.
One person has been confirmed dead, and six others are missing, including Mike Lynch. In June, Lynch was acquitted by a US jury of all charges in a high-profile fraud case related to the sale of his software company.
The 59-year-old was cleared of 15 counts of fraud, which he faced after Hewlett-Packard purchased his company Autonomy for $11.1 billion in 2011.
The allegations against him included fraud and conspiracy, with Hewlett-Packard alleging he had schemed to inflate the company’s value before its sale.
Although known as the ‘British Bill Gates,’ Lynch was born in Ireland and later moved to the UK.
Those missing along with Lynch include his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, two Americans, and a Canadian.
The superyacht was stationed off the coast of Sicily, the largest Mediterranean island, situated just off the ‘toe’ of the Italian boot, as depicted on a map.
On Monday, August 19, at 5 am local time, the 183ft vessel was capsized by a tornado.
This incident comes just days after Stephen Chamberlain, Lynch’s co-defendant in the US fraud trial and former vice-president of finance at Autonomy, was fatally struck by a car.
The 52-year-old was out running when the accident occurred.
His lawyer, Gary Lincenberg, told the Guardian: “He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity, and we deeply miss him. He fought successfully to clear his good name, which lives on through his wonderful family.”
Cambridgeshire police have called for witnesses who might have seen the collision in the small village of Stretham to come forward.
Both Lynch and Chamberlain were acquitted of the charges against them by a jury in a San Francisco court in June.
Reflecting on the ruling last month, Lynch told the Sunday Times: “If this had gone the wrong way, it would have been the end of life as I have known it in any sense.”
After leaving the company in 2012, Chamberlain volunteered at Cambridge United, a soccer club that plays in the third division of English football.
He also served as the chief operating officer for the cybersecurity firm Darktrace.