Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes tried to flee to Mexico, US prosecutors claim

21 January 2023 , 06:49

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Elizabeth Holmes has been sentenced to 11 years in jail (Image: Getty Images)

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes attempted to flee the United States after her conviction for defrauding investors and should be held in jail while appealing an 11-year sentence, federal prosecutors said.

Holmes had a one-way plane ticket to Mexico booked for January 26, 2022, three weeks after being convicted by a jury on four counts of fraud and conspiracy, federal prosecutors told a federal court in Northern California.

She was chief executive of Theranos during the company’s turbulent 15-year history and was convicted over a scheme that revolved around the company’s claims to have developed a medical device that could detect a multitude of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood.

But the technology never worked, and the claims were false.

Holmes booked the 2022 flight without a scheduled return trip and only cancelled it after prosecutors contacted Holmes’ lawyers about the “unauthorised flight”, prosecutors said.

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Holmes had a one-way plane ticket to Mexico booked for January 26, 2022, said the prosecution (Jeff Chiu/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

In a January 23, 2022, email responding to prosecutors’ concerns about the planned trip, Holmes' lawyers said she had booked the flight before the jury’s guilty verdict over the fraud.

It was alleged that she had bought the ticket as she was planning to attend a wedding in Mexico.

“Given the verdict, she does not plan to take the trip and therefore did not provide notice, seek permission, or request access to her passport (which the government has) for the trip,” wrote Lance Wade, one of Holmes’ layers.

On November 17, US District Judge Edward Davila sentenced Homes to more than 11 years in prison.

Judge Davila ordered Holmes, who is pregnant, to report to prison on April 27, giving her enough time to give birth to her second child before she is incarcerated. She gave birth to a son shortly before her trial started last year.

Prosecutors did not protest against Judge Davila’s decision to give Holmes five months of freedom or bring up the fact that they considered her a flight risk.

Holmes is scheduled to return to court on March 17 for a hearing on her request to stay out of prison while she appeals her conviction.

Tim Hanlon