HPQ HP Inc

Federal prosecutors indicted former Autonomy Corp. Chief Financial Officer Sushovan Hussain over claims of deception in Hewlett-Packard Co.'s $11 billion acquisition of the company in 2011.

The charges, filed on Thursday in a San Francisco federal court, allege that Mr. Hussain and others "engaged in a fraudulent scheme to deceive purchasers and sellers of Autonomy securities and HP about the true performance of Autonomy's business, its financial condition, and its prospects for growth."

In the indictment, prosecutors accuse Mr. Hussain and others of a variety of fraud including artificially inflated Autonomy's revenues, making false and misleading statements about company finances, and issuing false and misleading quarterly and annual reports. The indictment also accuses the former CFO and others of "intimidating, pressuring and paying off persons who raised complaints about or openly criticized Autonomy's financial practices and performance."

In an email, Mr. Hussain's lawyer, John Keker, said his client is innocent and expects him to be acquitted at trial.

"It is a shame that the Department of Justice is lending its support to HP's attempts to blame others for its own catastrophic failings," Mr. Keker said in a statement.

Last year, H-P agreed to pay $100 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit related to the company's troubled acquisition of the British software maker. H-P also accused Autonomy of improperly reporting $709 million in revenue over two and a half years before it bought the company.

H-P eventually took an $8.8 billion write-down on the deal.

Write to Jay Greene at Jay.Greene@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 11, 2016 18:33 ET (23:33 GMT)

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