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Barron\'s Theranos\' Ex-COO Found Guilty on All Counts
https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/theranos-ex-coo-found-guilty-on-all-counts-51657226782?mod=mw_latestnews
Former Theranos COO Ramesh âSunnyâ Balwani (R) faces up to 20 years in prison for each count. Ramin Rahimian/Getty Images
A federal jury in California has convicted Ramesh âSunnyâ Balwani, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmesâ former top lieutenant, on all 12 charges that he helped perpetuate a fraud at the blood-testing company.
Balwani, who was Theranosâ former president and chief operating officer, was found guilty of 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
His conviction six months after Holmes was found guilty of fraud ends the U..S. governmentâs pursuit of one of the most notorious and widely followed white-collar criminal trials in recent history.
Holmes and Balwani mislead investors and consumers about Theranosâ ability to perform numerous standard blood tests with just a finger prick instead of the usual method of withdrawing blood into a test-tube. At one point Theranos was valued at more than $9 billion.
Holmes was found guilty on Jan. 3 of four of the 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy, and not guilty on four counts. The jury could not reach a verdict on the remaining three. Unlike Holmes, Balwani didnât testify in his own defense.
Balwaniâs attorney Stephen Cazares said of his client when the trial opened that âhe didnât start Theranos, he didnât control Theranos,â and that âSunny believed in Theranos, he believed in its technology and he believed in its mission.â
Holmes in her testimony denied any intent to defraud Theranos customers and investors, saying reports from subordinates led her to believe that parts of Theranos technology worked. She also said she suffered emotional and sexual abuse by Balwani during a romantic relationshipâallegations Balwani has denied.
Balwaniâs trial didnât attract the same level of media coverage and public curiosity as Holmesâ trial, but as one half of the power couple, Balwani was accused of the same crimes. âI considered Mr. Balwani and Elizabeth to be unified in all of their decision-making processes,â Mark Pandori, Theranosâs lab director from 2013 to 2014, testified in March.
Balwani was in charge of Theranosâ lab, where the blood testing occurred, and challenged and sometimes fired employees who questioned the performance of Theranos technology, prosecutors and witnesses said.
He was also responsible for the financial models given to investors, which overstated Theranosâs revenue by as much as nine times the companyâs internal projections, prosecutors said, and managed the companyâs partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance, the Journal reported.
Prosecutors showed a text message Balwani sent Holmes, saying: âI am responsible for everything at Theranos. All have been my decisions too.â
Holmes is scheduled to be sentenced in September, and Balwaniâs sentencing was set for November. She and Balwani each face up to 20 years in prison for each of their guilty counts.
Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com
All Times Eastern
6:52p
Barron\'s Theranos\' Ex-COO Found Guilty on All Counts
https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/theranos-ex-coo-found-guilty-on-all-counts-51657226782?mod=mw_latestnews
Former Theranos COO Ramesh âSunnyâ Balwani (R) faces up to 20 years in prison for each count. Ramin Rahimian/Getty Images
A federal jury in California has convicted Ramesh âSunnyâ Balwani, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmesâ former top lieutenant, on all 12 charges that he helped perpetuate a fraud at the blood-testing company.
Balwani, who was Theranosâ former president and chief operating officer, was found guilty of 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
His conviction six months after Holmes was found guilty of fraud ends the U..S. governmentâs pursuit of one of the most notorious and widely followed white-collar criminal trials in recent history.
Holmes and Balwani mislead investors and consumers about Theranosâ ability to perform numerous standard blood tests with just a finger prick instead of the usual method of withdrawing blood into a test-tube. At one point Theranos was valued at more than $9 billion.
Holmes was found guilty on Jan. 3 of four of the 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy, and not guilty on four counts. The jury could not reach a verdict on the remaining three. Unlike Holmes, Balwani didnât testify in his own defense.
Balwaniâs attorney Stephen Cazares said of his client when the trial opened that âhe didnât start Theranos, he didnât control Theranos,â and that âSunny believed in Theranos, he believed in its technology and he believed in its mission.â
Holmes in her testimony denied any intent to defraud Theranos customers and investors, saying reports from subordinates led her to believe that parts of Theranos technology worked. She also said she suffered emotional and sexual abuse by Balwani during a romantic relationshipâallegations Balwani has denied.
Balwaniâs trial didnât attract the same level of media coverage and public curiosity as Holmesâ trial, but as one half of the power couple, Balwani was accused of the same crimes. âI considered Mr. Balwani and Elizabeth to be unified in all of their decision-making processes,â Mark Pandori, Theranosâs lab director from 2013 to 2014, testified in March.
Balwani was in charge of Theranosâ lab, where the blood testing occurred, and challenged and sometimes fired employees who questioned the performance of Theranos technology, prosecutors and witnesses said.
He was also responsible for the financial models given to investors, which overstated Theranosâs revenue by as much as nine times the companyâs internal projections, prosecutors said, and managed the companyâs partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance, the Journal reported.
Prosecutors showed a text message Balwani sent Holmes, saying: âI am responsible for everything at Theranos. All have been my decisions too.â
Holmes is scheduled to be sentenced in September, and Balwaniâs sentencing was set for November. She and Balwani each face up to 20 years in prison for each of their guilty counts.
Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com