Processes
Sentence for blood test entrepreneur Holmes only in September
Elizabeth Holmes (M) enters federal court in San Jose, California. Former model entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes has been found guilty of fraud against several of her investors by US jurors. Photo: Nic Coury / AP / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Elisabeth Holmes had promised nothing less than a revolution with Theraons. But then her start-up turned out to be an airborne number. Now they face up to 20 years in prison.
The sentence for former model entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, who was convicted of investor fraud, is not expected to become known until September.
The prosecution and defense jointly proposed the postponement on Tuesday, as their former top manager will soon be going to court in a second part of the proceedings. The 37-year-old could face up to 20 years in prison, but US trial observers assumed that the sentence would be significantly lower.
Holmes had promised to revolutionize blood tests with her start-up Theranos. Even complex analyzes, for which blood is drawn from the veins today, should be able to be carried out with just a few drops from the finger. However, as it turned out after a series of investigative reports, Theranos’ technology was never reliable.
In the trial, a jury concluded that Holmes had deliberately duped several donors into funding for Theranos. Theranos raised nearly a billion dollars from investors who lost most of their money. Holmes also denied the fraud allegations in the process, assuring that she sincerely believed in the technology but had not been informed of all the problems.
She also raised allegations against her former right-hand man at Theranos, Ramesh Balwani, who is due to come to court in March in the second part of the proceedings.
Judge Edward Davila will now decide on the sentence for Holmes after the jury’s verdict. Technically, she faces 20 years for each of the four counts on which she was found guilty – but the sentences can be paid in parallel in California. According to court documents, the prosecution and defense suggested September 12th as the date for the sentence to be pronounced.