Fraud or Corporate Mistake? The trial of the billionaire entrepreneur and billionaire Elisabeth Holmes has begun in California. She once caused a sensation with an alleged revolutionary blood test and earned a lot of money.
She was once celebrated as a biotech pioneer and is now on trial as a defendant: The eagerly anticipated fraud trial against former blood test entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes has begun in San José, California. The indictment accused the 37-year-old in the opening speech on Wednesday of having fraudulently brought it to the billionaire. Holmes’ defense lawyers, on the other hand, alleged that she had only made business mistakes.
“This case is about lying and cheating to get money,” said prosecutor Robert Leach. “When she ran out of money and time, Elizabeth Holmes decided to lie.”
Elisabeth Holmes faces 20 years imprisonment
Theranos founder is accused of having deceived investors, doctors and patients with the promise of a revolutionary technology for fast and inexpensive blood tests. If convicted of fraud or conspiracy to commit fraud, she faces up to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutor Leach said Holmes and her business partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani had claimed that the Theranos-developed device “could perform any medical test imaginable for a very low cost from a drop of blood from the fingertip.” They also stated that the US Army used the device, that it was being advertised by large pharmaceutical companies and that they would soon make “hundreds of millions of dollars”.
Holmes founded her company in 2003 when she was only 19 years old. The charismatic young entrepreneur and self-made billionaire was celebrated for years as a Silicon Valley pioneer. For the board of directors of her company, she was able to win over celebrities such as ex-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the later Secretary of Defense James Mattis. It later became clear that her blood testing machines were not working at all.
Partner Balwani was her lover
“Theranos failed in part because mistakes were made,” said Holmes attorney Lance Wade. “But mistakes are not crimes.” The failure of a company does not immediately turn its board of directors into a criminal.
During the trial, which is scheduled to take at least 13 weeks, the defense is apparently shifting the responsibility to Holmes’ former partner Balwani. “You will hear that one of your mistakes was to trust Mr. Balwani and rely on him as your main advisor,” Wade told the jury.
According to this, Holmes was exploited and controlled by the man who was almost 20 years older and with whom she had a relationship in the meantime. Balwani is slated to go through a separate process early next year.
In the trial against Holmes last week, the twelve jurors who will judge guilt or innocence were selected. The trial in the city of San José, south of San Francisco in Silicon Valley, is accompanied by great media interest. The hearings are set to continue on Friday.
The start of the process had previously been postponed several times, most recently because Holmes had a child in July.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
