Former Theranos CEO and president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison on Wednesday for fraud, after unraveling a blood test hoax prompted a California federal court to criminal charges against both Balwani and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who on 18 November was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.
During the sentencing hearing, Balwani’s attorneys attempted to place the blame on Holmes, telling U.S. District Court Judge Edward J. Davila that “the decisions are made by Elizabeth Holmes.”
Davila was given a sentence of 11 years plus 3 months to 14 years, but prosecutors today recommended a 15-year sentence due to his “critical” supervisory role in the lab business. by Theranos.
The final instruction sentence was 155 months, plus three years of probation. Davila fixed the surrender date as March 15, 2023.
Sunny Balwani, former president of Theranos Inc., arrives in federal court in San Jose, California, on Wednesday, December 7, 2022.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures
Balwani and Holmes, former romantic partners, led Theranos as the company boomed, attracting supporters from the DeVos family to news mogul Rupert Murdoch. One of Murdoch’s publications, The Wall Street Journal, first reported on the irregularities with Theranos’ supposedly revolutionary blood-testing machines.
As COO, Balwani manages both the laboratory business and the financial aspects of the company. Theranos was marred with repeated failures during his tenure, including forged documents and false test results.
“I’m in charge of everything at Theranos,” Balwani said in an interview. message to Holmes. Balwani assumes great responsibility for the day-to-day operations at the company.
Theranos claims the machines only need a few drops of blood to run and can perform more than 1,000 tests. In fact, the Journal says the company can only handle more than a dozen tests. The Journal’s report ultimately led to the company’s dissolution in 2018 and the subsequent arrest of Balwani and Holmes for fraud.
Balwani’s sentence in federal court marks the end of the Theranos story, which has enthralled the public and spurred documentaries and novel treatments.
With an all-star list of investors, a glamorous founder who has been compared to Apple’s Steve Jobs, and potentially revolutionary technology, the company once represented the pinnacle of innovation. ingenuity in Silicon Valley for a while.
The revelations about Theranos shocked both Balwani and Holmes, who had been romantically involved for most of their tenure at the company. Holmes accused Balwani of abuse during court proceedings, providing text messages and contemporary notes about their relationship as evidence.
“Kill old Elizabeth,” Balwani told her intentionally.
Holmes’ attorney argued that Balwani carried out a “decade-long campaign of psychological abuse”. Balwani is almost 20 years older than Holmes, who testified that he manages the lab and the financial side of the business.
This is an evolving story. Please check back for updates.
