British tech tycoon Mike Lynch reported missing after yacht sinks off Sicily

ITALY:

British businessman Mike Lynchwho was recently acquitted in the United States of an $11 billion fraud, is among those missing Monday after a superyacht sank off southern Italy, according to the head of the Civil Protection Service.

The 56-metre luxury yacht The Bayesian was moored off Porticello, east of Palermo, when the storm suddenly swept ashore before dawn, tearing apart beach clubs and small fishing harbours.

LynchHis wife was among 15 people rescued after the luxury yacht sank amid violent winds and rain off the coast of Sicily, according to Salvo Cocina of the Civil Protection Agency, leaving six others missing.

Italian authorities opened an investigation into the incident as the emergency response continued on Monday.

LynchThe 59-year-old was acquitted of all charges in a San Francisco court in early June after being accused of massive fraud linked to the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard.

He co-founded Autonomy in Cambridge in 1996.

U.S. Attorneys were charged Lynch wire fraud and securities fraud and conspiracy to commit offenses involving years of falsified records.

He had been extradited to the US from Britain to face criminal charges.

A Cambridge University graduate from Suffolk in East England, Lynch he had disputed all charges and denied any wrongdoing. He faced two decades in prison if convicted of the 17 charges.

A renowned technology entrepreneur and investor, sometimes referred to as the UK’s answer to Bill Gates, he had won many awards and accolades in Britain and beyond.

A spokesman for Invoke Capital, another firm he founded, declined to comment.

Lynch He was reportedly on board the boat with company colleagues when the storm hit.

After his acquittal in the US, he was critical of his prosecution in the US.

He had told the BBC that the only reason he was free was “because I had enough money not to get carried away by a process that is set up to sweep you up”.

“You don’t need to have funds to protect yourself as a British citizen,” he said in the interview broadcast earlier this month.