Mike Lynch’s Widow Could Be Liable for $4B Due to Hewlett Packard Claim

Hewlett Packard Enterprises is not dropping fraud claims against British tech mogul Mike Lynch, who died last month after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily — and will continue to pursue damages of up to $4 billion from his estate.

In 2022, Britain’s High Court ruled that the information technology company “had substantially succeeded in its civil fraud claims,” according to a statement from the company that was obtained by PEOPLE. 

The claims were made against Lynch and Sushovan Hussain, the former chief financial officer of Autonomy, a business software company Lynch founded, which was sold to Hewlett Packard in 2011 for $11 billion.

A damages hearing was held in Feb. 2024  — months before Lynch was acquitted in a separate U.S. trial related to the sale  — and HPE said in its statement that the “judge’s decision regarding damages” due to the company is expected to be issued “in due course.”

“It is HPE’s intention to follow the proceedings through to their conclusion,” the statement continued.

Angela Bacares, Lynch’s widow  — who was rescued after the sinking, which also resulted in the death of the couple’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah — could be liable for the damages, per the Associated Press.

A spokesperson for Lynch’s family had no comment when contacted by PEOPLE on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

In 2015, HPE sued Lynch and Sushovan, who both denied wrongdoing, seeking $6.5 billion in damages, according to The New York Times.

Although it remains to be seen how much HPE will be awarded in damages, Judge Robert Hildyard previously said he expected the amount will be “substantially” less than what the company sought, according to the Times and the AP.

The newspaper reported that Lynch planned to appeal.

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A source close to the survivors previously told PEOPLE that the yacht had traveled from the Aeolian Islands to celebrate Lynch’s recent acquittal, the end of a legal saga that began in 2018, when he was indicted on several counts of securities fraud and conspiracy.

“That’s why he took his closest friends and colleagues on the trip,” the source added.

Lynch and his daughter were among the seven victims who died after the luxury yacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday, Aug. 19.

Other victims were identified as New York City-based lawyer Christopher Morvillo, who helped Lynch get acquitted, and his wife Neda, as well as Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife. Yacht chef Recaldo Thomas also died.

Ambrogio Cartosio, the chief prosecutor of Termini Imerese, announced on Aug. 24 that a manslaughter investigation had been launched into the sinking.