Elizabeth Holmes Ordered to Report to Prison!
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has been ordered to report to prison by May 30th after her last-minute appeal to avoid starting her sentence was denied by an appellate court. Holmes, who was convicted of defrauding investors while running the failed blood-testing startup, had previously been ordered to begin her 11-year sentence on April 27th. However, she filed an appeal seeking to remain free on bail while fighting to overturn her conviction. The Ninth Circuit court denied her request and set a new surrender date of May 30th. Holmes requested the new date to make preparations, including medical and child-care arrangements.
In addition to the prison sentence, Holmes and her ex-boyfriend and former Theranos COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani were ordered to pay roughly $452 million in restitution to victims of their crimes. They will be jointly and severally liable for the sum, meaning each could be individually responsible for the entire amount. Balwani was convicted of fraud in a separate trial and began serving his nearly 13-year sentence last month after losing a similar appeal.
Holmes, who dropped out of Stanford at a young age to focus on Theranos, claimed that the company had invented technology capable of accurately testing for various conditions using minimal blood samples. However, investigations revealed that Theranos had performed only a few tests with questionable accuracy and relied on third-party devices instead of its own technology.