Former Theranos COO Sunny Balwani set to be sentenced
Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the previous chief working officer of failed blood testing startup Theranos, is ready to be sentenced on Wednesday for fraud, marking an finish to the beautiful downfall of a high-flying Silicon Valley firm that resulted within the uncommon convictions of two tech executives.
The sentencing comes weeks after Elizabeth Holmes, the founding father of Theranos and Balwani’s ex-girlfriend, was sentenced to greater than 11 years in jail.
Theranos raised $945 million from an A-list cohort of traders with its promise to check for a variety of situations utilizing just some drops of blood. At its peak, the corporate was valued at $9 billion.
The firm started to unravel after a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2015 reported that Theranos had solely ever carried out roughly a dozen of the tons of of assessments it supplied utilizing its proprietary expertise, and with questionable accuracy. It additionally got here to gentle that Theranos was counting on third-party manufactured units from conventional blood testing corporations slightly than its personal expertise. Theranos finally dissolved in September 2018.
Holmes and Balwani had been first indicted collectively 4 years in the past on the identical 12 felony fees pertaining to defrauding traders and sufferers about Theranos’ capabilities and business dealings with a view to get cash. Their trials had been severed after Holmes indicated she meant to accuse Balwani of sexually, emotionally and psychologically abusing her all through their decade-long relationship, which coincided together with her time working the corporate. (Balwani’s attorneys have denied her claims.)
In July, Balwani was discovered responsible on all 12 fees he confronted, which included ten counts of federal wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Holmes was discovered responsible in January on 4 fees regarding defrauding traders, and located not responsible on three extra fees regarding defrauding sufferers and one cost of conspiracy to defraud sufferers.
Like Holmes, Balwani confronted as much as 20 years in jail in addition to a superb of $250,000 plus restitution for every rely.
In a current court docket submitting, prosecutors famous that Balwani was convicted not solely of defrauding traders but in addition defrauding sufferers. They beneficial a 15-year jail sentence for him, in addition to an order for Balwani to pay $804 million in restitution. In a separate submitting, attorneys for Balwani requested a sentence of probation, noting he had no felony historical past.
Before becoming a member of Theranos, Balwani had a profession as a software program govt. Balwani, practically 20 years older than Holmes, first met her in 2002 earlier than she dropped out of Stanford. He served as a casual adviser to Holmes in Theranos’ earliest days and the 2 grew to become romantically concerned. Balwani assured a “multimillion-dollar loan” to the startup in 2009, court docket filings present, and took on a proper position as president and chief working officer. Holmes and Balwani largely stored their romantic relationship hidden whereas working collectively.
During her trial, Holmes claimed Balwani tried to manage practically each side of her life — together with disciplining her consuming, her voice and picture, and isolating her from others. She testified that whereas he did not management her interactions with traders, business companions and others, “he impacted everything about who I was, and I don’t fully understand that.”
Holmes is predicted to attraction her conviction however was ordered to show herself into custody on April 27, 2023.
