Elizabeth Holmes’ ex-boyfriend convicted of cheating

Holmes and Balwani are accused of lying to investors and patients about the capabilities of the Theranos devices. Its own technology was highlighted as a leader between 2003 and 2015. In fact, important blood tests were not performed on Theranos’ own machines, but on Siemens machines.

As the issues came to light, Theranos collapsed following US regulatory intervention and shareholder lawsuits. Holmes was one of the few female founding personalities in Silicon Valley. Her prominence – Holmes was a guest in the White House, among other things – led to a great deal of public attention for the case. There are now books, documentaries and a television series about Theranos.

Significant role of Ramesh Balwani on Theranos

Holmes, now 38, acted as the public face of the company. According to the public prosecutor’s office, Balwani, now 57, also played an important role. Emails and text messages revealed that the two were linked both professionally and in a romantic relationship.

The court heard, among others, a former laboratory director, employees of a regulatory agency and a patient who had not yet testified against Holmes at the trial. Their statements were intended to underline that Balwani was also familiar with the falsification of the blood tests. The twelve jurors deliberated for five days. Balwani quietly recorded the verdict.

“Six months after the guilty verdict in Elizabeth Holmes’ trial, the jury has concluded that Holmes’ business partner Ramesh Balwani also bears responsibility for the fraud against Theranos investors,” San Francisco prosecutor Stephanie Hinds said. “The jury also concluded that Balwani defrauded unsuspecting patients.”

The jury found Balwani guilty of two counts of conspiracy with Holmes, six counts of investor fraud and four counts of patient fraud. Holmes had been acquitted of the charge of cheating a patient.

Abuse allegations against Ramesh Balwani

Seth Kretzer, a US criminal defense attorney not involved in the case, said Holmes likely faces a “heavier sentence” than Balwani. After all, she went to the witness stand in her own defense and he didn’t: “The prosecution will argue that she obstructed justice by her false testimony.”

Balwani had denied the allegations. His lawyers argued that prosecutors picked only a fraction of the blood tests: those with particularly bad results. Millions of other tests in a Theranos database that no longer exists have been ignored. It was alleged against Balwani that for a time he ran the company’s strictly closed laboratory.

In her trial, Holmes accused Balwani of sexually and psychologically abusing her. From the point of view of Andrey Spektor, another external lawyer, the proceedings against Balwani were therefore simpler: The court “did not have to worry about the issue of pity” that Holmes had brought up. Balwani denies the allegations of abuse.

Prosecutors: Elizabeth Holmes and Balwani were close accomplices

During his three-day closing argument, Balwani’s attorney said his client was blinded by Holmes, as were Theranos investors and senior board members, including well-known ex-politicians and ex-military figures such as Henry Kissinger and James Mattis. Balwani also only saw “the charisma, the drive, the vision, the goal” of the founder, “and he made this vision his own,” according to his defense attorney. Balwani invested $4.6 million in the company himself.

Prosecutors, however, argued that Balwani and Holmes worked closely together to maintain the fraud, which was unearthed by investigations by The Wall Street Journal. Among other things, they would have shielded important information from their own employees.

Holmes is scheduled to be sentenced on September 26 and Balwani on November 15.

With agency material.

More: Jury finds Elizabeth Holmes guilty in Theranos trial.