Autonomy's former finance boss sentenced to five years in prison

Sushovan Hussain handed prison sentence seven years after HP unearthed what it claims were 'serious accounting improprieties' at Autonomy

Seven years into his long-running feud with HP, former Autonomy finance boss Sushovan Hussain has been sentenced to five years in prison for accounting fraud, according to reports (including on the FT and BBC).

Hussain and former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch have been locked in a bitter legal tussle with HP since 2012, when HP claimed it had discovered "serious accounting improprieties" at Autonomy a year after acquiring the UK software outfit for $11bn (£8.5bn).

A court in San Francisco last year found 55-year-old British citizen Hussain made false statements to investors about Autonomy's performance ahead of its sale.

Judge Charles Breyer yesterday also fined Hussain $4m and set the forfeiture payment at $6.1m, the gain that Hussain personally obtained as a result of the premium paid by HP for Autonomy, the FT reports.

The seven-year spat has been as epic and involved as Jarndyce versus Jarndyce, with - at one point - HP dragging the channel into its legal battle with HP as it claimed Autonomy had used resellers to make "contrived transactions".

Additionally, HPE is suing Lynch and Hussain at the High Court in London, seeking $5bn in damages over claims they artificially inflated the firm's value.

The duo have denied the claims, with Lynch also counter-suing HP for at least $125m in damages for making "a series of false, misleading and unfair public statements".