British entrepreneur Mike Lynch will testify as a key witness in his own criminal fraud trial at a federal courthouse in San Francisco.

Lynch is charged with 16 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy related to the 2011 acquisition of his company, Autonomy, by Hewlett-Packard.

If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison.

Lynch has pleaded not guilty.

His legal team may seek a mistrial over alleged improper cross-examination by the prosecution.

Lynch sold Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for 11.1 billion dollars, receiving 500 million pounds.

A year later, Hewlett-Packard reported accounting improprieties and reduced the acquisition's value by 8.8 billion dollars.

Lynch’s defense argues the financial discrepancies are due to differences in US and UK accounting standards, suggesting he wasn’t the main decision-maker.

Prosecutors accuse Lynch of a 'massive' fraud to inflate Autonomy’s revenue between 2009 and 2011.

Lynch was indicted in 2019, extradited from the UK, and placed under house arrest in San Francisco.