Mysterious circumstances surrounding the sinking of billionaire Mike Lynch’s yacht on Monday morning have sparked a flood of conspiracy theories on the Internet.
The reason is that Lynch’s former colleague and co-defendant in a recently concluded US fraud trial was fatally struck by a car on Saturday – two days before a tornado suddenly sank Lynch’s yacht off the coast of Sicily, according to authorities. Both men were acquitted after the trial.
Stephen Chamberlain, who was Autonomy’s vice president of finance during Lynch’s tenure as CEO, was seriously injured by a car while jogging on Saturday. He was placed on life support but succumbed to his injuries on Monday, his attorney Gary Lincenberg confirmed.
Cambridgeshire Police said a blue Vauxhall Corsa struck and killed a man in his 50s, now identified as Chamberlain. Officers said the 49-year-old woman who struck him was still at the scene.
“He was a courageous man of unparalleled integrity,” said Chamberlain’s Lincenberg. “We miss him deeply. Steve successfully fought to clear his good name in court earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family.”
Chamberlain was on trial alongside 59-year-old Lynch on charges of fraud in connection with the $11 billion sale of Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011 – a case that ended in June with the two men acquitted by a jury in San Francisco.
If convicted, they would have faced more than 20 years in federal prison.
On board Lynch’s ill-fated voyage on his 185-foot sailing vessel, the Bayesian, were the lawyers who had led his defense against U.S. prosecutors. He is now feared dead, along with five others who were still missing on Monday evening.
Divers were dispatched to the site where the Bayesian sank. Six people, including two Americans, were still missing as of Monday night.
Reuters via handout
Among those missing are Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah and one of his lawyers. Two Americans and another British citizen are also reportedly among the missing. Italian authorities said they are still searching for the missing people and have dispatched diving teams. The body of a Canadian chef has already been recovered from the ship.
A lawyer on board the Bayesians’ ill-fated voyage was 36-year-old Ayla Ronald, who The Telegraph reported. Her father, Lin Ronald, said the trip was to celebrate Lynch’s acquittal.
Among the survivors of Monday’s tragedy was Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares. She said The Republic that she suffered abrasions on her feet during the chaos and can no longer walk.
Witnesses to the storm in the Mediterranean told the Italian news agency ANSA that the ship was anchored off the port of Porticello when a tornado-like waterspout formed and struck the Bayesian, causing the ship to sink shortly afterwards.
“I was at home when the tornado hit,” Pietro Asciutto, a local fisherman, told ANSA. “I immediately closed all the windows. Then I saw the boat, it had only one mast, it was very big. I saw it suddenly sink.”
The Bayesian, a 56-metre-long sailing boat, was photographed off the coast of Palermo just hours before it sank (left).
Baia Santa Nicolicchia/Fabio La Bianca
Fabio Cefalù, a trawler captain who was nearby, told the BBC he went to the spot where the Bayesian sank shortly after the waterspout. Within 10 minutes, all that was left of the ship were some floating objects from the deck. He said he saw no survivors in the water.
Lynch’s relatives have remained largely silent since his disappearance, perhaps hoping he will miraculously reappear. Some reports describe the tech billionaire, who had a low social media presence, as a James Bond admirer, model train builder and koi carp breeder. He had a second daughter, 21, and six dogs, they say. The Daily Mail.
“Lynch is said to have put his own personal stamp on the companies he headed and indulged his penchant for James Bond,” reported The Guardian on Monday. “Conference rooms were reportedly named after Bond foes such as Dr. No and Goldfinger, and Autonomy even had a piranha tank in the atrium, as a nod to the 007 flick You Only Live Twice.”
