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Convicted of fraud, Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the start-up Theranos, risks spending several decades in prison.
Elizabeth Holmes, in San José, Calif., January 3, 2022.
AFP
The sentence of Elizabeth Holmes, the fallen star of Silicon Valley convicted last week of fraud by a court in California, could not be handed down until September 12, according to an agreement reached Tuesday between his lawyers and the government.
The founder of Theranos, a start-up that promised to revolutionize blood tests, risks spending several decades in prison. “The parties present propose that the hearing (to determine the sentence, editor’s note) take place on September 12, 2022”, explain the lawyers in a request filed Tuesday in the court of San José.
They say they agree on “the idea that a hearing in September would be appropriate given the ongoing process in a related case.” They refer to the case against the ex-COO of Theranos and former companion of Elizabeth Holmes, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, which is to be tried separately.
Three months of trial
He faces the same charges as she does – and has pleaded not guilty – but his trial has been delayed due to the Omicron variant. It is scheduled to start on February 15th.
After more than three months of trial and seven days of deliberation, the jury last Monday found the 37-year-old entrepreneur guilty of defrauding investors, but acquitted her of certain charges and could not agree on other facts with which he was accused.
Prosecutors have decided to drop the charges on which jurors abstained. Elizabeth Holmes, who is married and had a baby boy this summer, remains on bail. She had founded Theranos in 2003, at just 19, and promised diagnostic tools that were faster and cheaper than those in traditional laboratories.
With the help of a very elaborate story and appearance, she had managed in a few years to gain the trust of luminaries and to raise funds from prestigious investors attracted by the profile of this young woman, a rarity in the world. male world of Californian engineers.
(AFP)