Reports: Autonomy investigation could last two years

Sources tell national newspaper that an FBI probe into the case could drag on for a couple of years

An FBI investigation into alleged accounting fraud at Autonomy could go on for up to two years, reports have claimed.

An article on the This is Money website claimed sources had told its sister site the Daily Mail that the case could "drag on for a couple of years".

HP, which acquired Autonomy in 2011, passed details to the US Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission last year, accusing former Autonomy executives of cooking the books and inflating the company's worth by £3bn, forcing it to overpay.

The vendor took an $8.8bn (£5.6bn) goodwill impairment charge relating to Autonomy, with $5bn of that relating to "serious accounting improprieties, misrepresentation and disclosure failures", it said.

Meanwhile, in the UK the SFO also launched its own investigation into the alleged scandal earlier this year.

Autonomy founder Mike Lynch, who left the company he founded in May after sales failed to meet expectations, hired a top-notch US lawyer earlier this year in preparation for a lengthy legal battle.