Ramesh Sunny Balwani, former chief operating officer and president of Theranos, was found guilty of all 12 counts of fraud. According to media sources, a jury in California Federal Court convicted Balwani of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Sunny Balwani is the ex-boyfriend of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. He is also the company’s previous COO and former president. In 2003, Balwani and Holmes created the now famous Theranos.
Theranos’ former COO Sunny Balwani was found guilty of all 12 criminal fraud charges on Thursday.
In Season 15, we detailed Balwani’s relationship with #Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and how the company ended up in one of the biggest corporate fraud cases of the 21st century. pic.twitter.com/4usezo44bx
— American Greed (@AmericanGreedTV) July 8, 2022
The Balwani Scam
Authorities said Holmes and Balwani lied about their company, claiming Theranos’ technology could perform hundreds of medical tests with just a few drops of a patient’s blood. That attracted financial interest from retail giants like Walgreens and Safeway.
However, their fraud was exposed in March 2018. Balwani and Holmes were charged with a massive fraud and are suspected of stealing more than $700 million from investors over many years. The SEC accused them of making inflated and false claims about the company’s technology, operations and financial performance.
Although Balwani has not yet been sentenced, having been charged with 12 different counts, he could face a sentence equal to or even longer than that of Holmes. Sunny Balwani’s lawyer, Jeffrey Coopersmith, insisted until the trial that he had not committed fraud. He stated:
“MR. Balwani has not committed any offence.” He did not deceive Theranos investors, who were among the most sophisticated in the world. He did not cheat customers, but worked relentlessly to give them access to information about their own health. Mr. Balwani is innocent and wants to defend his reputation at trial.”
He held Holmes responsible for the capture of Balwani:
“There’s no reason why he wouldn’t notice the same thing: charm, passion, vision and desire to improve diagnostic testing.” And he believed in that vision.”
Andrey Spektor, a criminal defense attorney not involved in the case, said:
“Balwani ran the lab for a while and was just as interested in administration as Holmes.” To some extent, the government’s case against him was stronger.”
All About Sunny Balwana
Balwani was Theranos’ second-ranking employee. The company was started by Holmes. He was in charge of day-to-day operations. In 2003, he met Holmes in Beijing while they were both students at Stanford. He was 37 years old, and Holmes was 19 years old. It was also said that they are in a relationship.
Earlier in the trial, prosecutor Robert Leach stated:
“Ms. Holmes and Mr. Balwani collaborated on almost everything.”
At Theranos, Holmes was the face of the company, but Balwani oversaw everything. He made all decisions and attended all investor meetings. He was one of the company’s first investors, investing $15 million in the early days.
Categories: Entertaintment
Source: vcmp.edu.vn