(Reuters) – British businessman Mike Lynch has won a reprieve on U.S. fraud charges after Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel postponed a decision on his extradition by two months, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday.
Patel has delayed her verdict on whether to approve Lynch’s extradition until Nov. 29 following vocal campaigning from former ministers, including David Davis, who had called for her to extend the deadline until the outcome of a civil trial, according to the newspaper.
A British court said in July that Lynch can be extradited to the United States to face charges, including securities fraud, related to the $11 billion sale of his company, Autonomy, to Hewlett Packard.
HP has alleged that Lynch fraudulently inflated the value of Autonomy before its sale in 2011. Lynch has denied any wrongdoing.
The home secretary has few avenues to block the extradition directly and is expected ultimately to approve it. But a delay could influence Lynch’s chances of appealing extradition in the High Court, the newspaper added.
The Home Office did not immediately respond to Reuters request for a comment but a spokesman told the newspaper that Patel was giving full consideration to the issues raised in the case.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan Grebler)
