MISSING British billionaire tycoon Mike Lynch’s ex colleague and co-defendant in his US fraud trial has died in hospital after being hit my a car, it is claimed.
Stephen Chamberlain was fatally struck by the vehicle on Saturday, just hours before Lynch, 59, disappeared after a yacht he was sailing on sunk.
PABritish technology tycoon Mike Lynch is missing after the luxury yacht, Bayesian sank in bad weather off the coast of Sicily[/caption]
ReutersItalian firefighters transport a body bag amid the search[/caption]
EPAThe ‘Bayesian’ sailing boat, in Palermo, Sicily[/caption]
RexThe search continues[/caption]
The vessel was caught in a freak whirlwind off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday, with six people still missing, including the entrepreneur and his daughter Hannah, 18.
Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice president of finance alongside chief executive Lynch, was hit by a car in Cambridgeshire on Saturday morning and was placed on life support.
Chamberlain’s lawyer Gary Lincenberg told MailOnline: “Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running.
“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him.
“Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family.”
Lynch, meanwhile, is one of six people reported missing after the Bayesian luxury yacht was caught in a whirlwind which snapped its mast.
The boat sank off the coast of the Italian island Sicily at about 5am local time.
A body found is understood to be that of vessel chef Ricardo Thomas, according to the BBC.
Lynch’s family, lawyers, and employees were on board when the boat when it sank, with witnesses describing the mast snapping in half.
They were celebrating the businessman’s recent triumph over fraud charges that left him facing 25 years in a US prison, The Telegraph reported.
The tech tycoon made his riches by selling his software company Autonomy to US computing giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011 for $11bn (£8.6bn).
But an intense legal battle following the high-profile acquisition loomed over Lynch for more than a decade, leading to him being flown to the US in chains last year.