Long prison sentence for blood test fraud
Theranos founder Holmes is appealing
12/06/2022, 5:15 am
Elizabeth Holmes is to be jailed for 11 years for massively defrauding investors with her blood testing company Theranos. For the pregnant 38-year-old, the court’s verdict in mid-November is a slap in the face. Now she’s appealing.
Former US blood test entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes has appealed her conviction in the Theranos fraud trial to 11 years in prison. Holmes and her attorneys have until March 3 next year to file briefs and court documents in support of their claim, according to a statement from the California Circuit Court of Appeals.
A jury found Holmes guilty on four counts of investor fraud in January. The public prosecutor had subsequently demanded 15 years in prison against her. The defense had argued that Holmes should be spared a prison sentence or sentenced to no more than a year and a half in prison. In mid-November, Holmes was then sentenced to eleven years in prison. The pregnant 38-year-old, who is already the mother of a young son, does not have to start her prison sentence before April 27 next year.
Holmes’ lawyer had already announced that she would appeal. Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 when he was just 19 years old. The company advertised a supposedly revolutionary technology for particularly fast, effective and inexpensive blood tests. The charismatic young entrepreneur was celebrated as a tech pioneer and won financially strong investors and prominent supporters such as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The 38-year-old became a billionaire.
Then reports from The Wall Street Journal revealed that the blood testing technology was not working reliably and that in reality conventional testing methods were used. Holmes has always denied defrauding investors. She admitted mistakes, but claimed to have believed in the potential of her technology. She also blamed her ex-boyfriend and former business partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani for the scandal. He was also found guilty of fraud in July.