Female billionaire fraudster prepares to go to jail

According to the latest verdict, former CEO of blood testing company Theranos Elizabeth Holmes will go to prison from May 30, serving an 11-year sentence for fraud.

On May 17, Judge Edward Davila, who is presiding over Elizabeth Holmes’ case, ordered her to report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons by May 30 to begin serving her sentence. Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison last November, with the sentence set to begin on April 27.

Days before the deadline, she filed an appeal, seeking to remain on bail to overturn the sentence. However, in a ruling on May 16, the judge rejected this request. A day later, Holmes' lawyers asked to postpone her appearance to May 30, citing the need for her medical preparation and the care of her young child before starting her sentence. Davila agreed to the new deadline.

The judge also ordered Holmes and former Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani to pay $452 million in restitution to victims. Balwani was also convicted of fraud and served nearly 13 years in prison last month.

Elizabeth Holmes leaves a courtroom in San Francisco in 2019. Photo: Reuters — Elizabeth Holmes leaves a courtroom in San Francisco in 2019. Photo: *Reuters*

Holmes is a rare Silicon Valley entrepreneur convicted of fraud. She dropped out of Stanford University at 19 to found Theranos and was once considered a female Steve Jobs thanks to her ambitious promise of technology that could test for a wide range of diseases using just a few drops of blood.

Investors, patients, and fans bought into the story. Theranos raised more than $700 million from investors, outwitting even the smartest people in Silicon Valley.

The incident came to light after a 2015 Wall Street Journal investigation. Theranos performed only about 12 of the hundreds of tests it claimed were proprietary, and the accuracy of the results was questioned. Theranos was later found to have used third-party equipment to perform traditional blood tests, instead of its own technology.

Theranos was once a startup valued at $9 billion, making Holmes the world's youngest self-made female billionaire in 2015 with a fortune of $4.5 billion. Both Theranos and Holmes are now left with nothing. The trial lasted for many years. By early 2022, Holmes was found guilty of four counts of fraud, putting an end to the one-time technology icon.

Ha Thu (according to CNN)

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