Criminal Charges Filed Against Theranos’ Founder Elizabeth Holmes, Ex-President Ramesh Balwani
Elizabeth Holmes and the company's No. 2 Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani were each charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud in an indictment handed up Thursday and unsealed Friday.
The New York Times:
Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Indicted On Fraud Charges
Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of Theranos, the lab testing company that promised to revolutionize health care, and its former president, Ramesh Balwani, were indicted on Friday on charges of defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars as well as deceiving hundreds of patients and doctors. The criminal charges were the culmination of a rarity in Silicon Valley — federal prosecution of a technology start-up. This one boasted a board stacked with prominent political figures and investors, and a startling valuation of $9 billion just a few years ago. (Abelson, 6/15)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Files Criminal Charges Against Theranos’s Elizabeth Holmes, Ramesh Balwani
The indictments of Ms. Holmes and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Theranos’s former president and chief operating officer who was also Ms. Holmes’s boyfriend, are the culmination of a 2½-year investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco, sparked by articles in The Wall Street Journal that raised questions about the company’s technology and practices. (Carreyrou, 6/15)
The Associated Press:
Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes Charged With Criminal Fraud
Holmes, who was once considered a wunderkind of Silicon Valley, and her former Chief Operating Officer Ramesh Balwani, are charged with two counts conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud each, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California said late Friday. If convicted, they could face prison sentences that would keep them behind bars for the rest of their lives, and total fines of $2.75 million each. Prosecutors allege that Holmes and Balwani deliberately misled investors, policymakers and the public about the accuracy of Theranos' blood-testing technologies going back to at least 2013. Holmes, 34, founded Theranos in Palo Alto, California, in 2003, pitching its technology as a cheaper way to run dozens of blood tests. (6/15)
San Jose Mercury News:
Theranos' Holmes Indicted By Feds Over Blood-Test 'Fraud'
The fall of Holmes represents a cautionary Silicon Valley tale, demonstrating how a charismatic tech industry leader making grandiose claims about a disruptive new product can attract massive investments while allegedly bamboozling investors, consumers and a high-profile corporate partner. Before Theranos’ claims unraveled — starting with a Wall Street Journal exposé — Holmes had been widely praised as a Silicon Valley wunderkind pushing forward technology’s cutting edge. (Baron, 6/15)