Elizabeth Holmes, the former star of Silicon Valley sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for fraud, will have to start her sentence on April 27, twenty years following founding her start-up Theranos.
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A judge on Tuesday denied her request to remain free pending her appeal, saying she was unlikely to succeed in obtaining a drastically different verdict.
In January 2022, following a four-month trial, jurors determined that she “lied and cheated” to raise funds, in the words of a prosecutor.
Theranos promised faster and cheaper diagnoses than those of traditional laboratories, thanks to methods presented as revolutionary, allowing multiple tests with a very small amount of blood.
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Investors were won over. In 2014, Forbes valued Ms Holmes’ fortune at $4.5 billion and described her as the youngest female billionaire not to inherit his fortune.
The 19-year-old had convinced many heavyweight investors, impressed by her eloquence and determination, but the new tools had never worked as promised.
Judge Edward Davila conceded that Elizabeth Holmes, 39, is not a flight risk, noting in particular that she has “two young children”. She was pregnant in November, when her sentence was announced.
But the magistrate considers that his appeal has “little chance” of leading to an acquittal or a new trial.
“Ms. Holmes’ misrepresentations to Theranos investors were not just regarding the technology,” he said in his decision on Tuesday.
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She also lied regarding “the financial situation of the company, the use of devices provided by third parties, the partnership with (the pharmacies) Walgreens and the validation (of the technology) by pharmaceutical companies”, details-t -he.
In 2015, the Wall Street Journal published a damning investigation into Theranos, despite the leader’s attempts to prevent its publication by appealing to Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the American daily and also an investor in the former start-up.
During her trial, she tried to convince the jury of her good faith.
Her lawyers said she was never motivated by greed: she might have gotten rich, but never sold stocks, using the money to build her technology.
The fallen star also spoke regarding her relationship with Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, her ex-COO and companion, saying he kept her under close control, at work and at home.
Mr. Balwani was also convicted of fraud and is due to begin his sentence this month. He also appealed.
The story of Elizabeth Holmes fascinated the American media, because she embodied a certain image of innovative Silicon Valley, before its decline.
