Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will remain in prison after losing her bid to overturn her conviction for defrauding investors with false claims of her blood-testing startup’s capabilities. A federal appeals court ruled that she had not proved any legal missteps during her trial.
The court upheld the fraud convictions of both Holmes and former business partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, as well as a lower court order for them to pay $452 million in restitution. Both are serving prison sentences – Holmes for 11 years and Balwani for nearly 13 years.
Holmes had claimed that her startup had developed a revolutionary medical device capable of detecting various diseases from just a few drops of blood. However, the technology never worked as promised, and she was found guilty of making false claims to investors.
The appeals court rejected Holmes’ claims of legal errors during her trial, citing a 54-page ruling that found no evidence of violations or major errors by the lower court. Attorneys for both Holmes and Balwani declined to comment on the decision.
Holmes rose to fame in Silicon Valley, securing investments from high-profile figures such as Larry Ellison, Rupert Murdoch, and the Walton family. Her downfall came after a series of investigative articles and regulatory audits exposed the flaws in Theranos’ technology, leading to its collapse in 2015. The scandal has been extensively covered in media, including books, documentaries, and TV series.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/elizabeth-holmes-theranos-fraud-conviction-appeal-193bb0a0bfe306e796acd13c151e705c