There's a crazy new wrinkle in HP's $5 billion lawsuit against Autonomy

Earlier this month, HP released a massive document spelling out its case in its $5 billion lawsuit against Autonomy executives.

In it, HP said a software reseller called MicroTech was involved in a bunch of questionable transactions with Autonomy.

Now, MicroTech is suing HP for $16.5 million, claiming it was duped by Autonomy, now owned by HP, into paying for product it never received.

HP's case was spelled out in a 134-page document in which it claimed that Autonomy execs used financial tricks (HP called it fraud) to make it look like Autonomy was earning more revenue than it was. HP bought the company for $11 billion in 2011 and, less than a year later, wrote off $8.8 billion.

Autonomy execs have categorically and repeatedly dened all of HP's charges and say HP's own mismanagement of the company caused the write-off.

HP says that one of the alleged schemes involved five of Autonomy's sales partners, known as "value-added resellers" (VARs), who, HP says, were involved in various "contrived" transactions.

It offered a few examples, including a deal between Autonomy and MicroTech in which MicroTech paid Autonomy $9.6 million for software for a customer contract that allegedly never materialized, HP says. And Autonomy paid MicroTech $9.6 million to build a new customer sales center, HP says.

MicroTech claims that it had another such multi-million dollar contract with Autonomy that went south, in which HP itself was supposed to be the final customer for Autonomy's software.

Now, MicroTech believes HP needs to pay back $16.5 million as a refund, or send MicroTech $16.5 million worth of Autonomy software.

The courts will ultimately untangle all the lawsuits and counter-suits and declare the winners. But we have to say one thing: all the parties involved have plenty of chutzpah.

And none of this is likely to be resolved before HP splits itself in two later this year.

HP declined to comment. Autonomy has released multiple documents that refute HP's accusations point-by-point.