SAN FRANCISCO – In a shocking turn of events, Sushovan Hussain, the former Chief Financial Officer of Autonomy Corporation plc, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in a massive wire fraud scheme.
Hussain, 55, used sophisticated accounting methods to falsely inflate Autonomy’s revenues, making it appear the company was growing when it was not. The evidence at trial demonstrated that Hussain used backdated contracts, roundtrips, channel stuffing, and other forms of accounting fraud to fraudulently inflate Autonomy’s publicly-reported revenues by as much as 14.6% in 2009, 17.9% in 2010, 21.5% in the first quarter of 2011, and 12.4% in the second quarter of 2011.
In addition, Hussain and his co-conspirators fraudulently concealed from investors and market analysts the scale of Autonomy’s hardware sales, which were used to boost the company’s reported revenue. The evidence demonstrated Autonomy’s sales were inflated by $53.3 million in 2009, $99.08 million in 2010, $20.09 million in the first quarter of 2011, and $20.85 million in the second quarter of 2011.
The sentence was imposed by the Honorable Charles R. Breyer, U.S. District Judge. In addition to the prison term, the Court ordered a fine in the amount of $4 million, the forfeiture of assets in the amount of $6.1 million, a three-year term of supervised release, and a special assessment of $1,600. Hussain was ordered to surrender to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons on June 15, 2019.
Hussain’s crimes date back to 2009, when he began using accounting methods to inflate Autonomy’s revenues. The scheme continued for over two years, until Autonomy was acquired by Hewlett-Packard Company in 2011 for about $11.7 billion.
The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert S. Leach, Adam A. Reeves, and William Frentzen prosecuted the case with the assistance of Elizabeth Margen, Phillip Villanueva, and Bridget Kilkenny.
Hussain’s sentencing marks a significant victory for law enforcement and a warning to those who engage in corporate malfeasance. As the investigation revealed, the consequences of such actions can be severe and long-lasting.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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