30 May 2023 , 17:42
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Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced CEO of Theranos, surrendered to authorities to begin her 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in her blood-testing scam.
Holmes, who was sentenced in November 2022, is on her way to be incarcerated in the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of her hometown of Houston.
As part of her sentence, the 39-year-old founder of the start-up, once touted as a breakthrough health technology company, has also been ordered to pay $452 million in restitution.
The beginning of her sentencing comes after her request to stay out of prison while appealing her conviction was rejected by a federal appeals court.
Her date to report was prison was set after her appeal to remain free was rejected (AP)Holmes' lawyers have asked for the revised reporting date to address childcare arrangements for her two young children. The father of the children is William "Billy" Evans.
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Holmes' former partner and Theranos' COO, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, is currently serving a prison sentence.
Balwani, 57, was convicted of 12 felony counts of fraud and conspiracy committed while he was Theranos' chief operating officer and living with Holmes.
Holmes deceived investors through her scam startup and boasted about a technology that didn't work as promised, endangering patients' lives.
Theranos' founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas,She was found guilty of peddling a technology that she repeatedly boasted would quickly scan for hundreds of diseases and other health problems with a few drops of blood taken with a finger prick.
But the evidence presented at trial, including attempts to prevent an investigation and intimidate whistleblowers, suggested that Holmes was running a scam.
Despite the downfall, she amassed significant wealth and lived a luxurious lifestyle.
Her case brought attention to a dark chapter in Silicon Valley, where she promised to revolutionize healthcare but ultimately misled investors.
Holmes was sentenced to just over 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with her Silicon Valley start-up Theranos.The story has since become the subject of a book, “Bad Blood,” an HBO documentary, “The Inventor," and a Hulu mini-series, ”The Dropout," which won Amanda Seyfried an Emmy in the starring role.
The case, which exposed the scam behind her blood-testing startup, raised questions about her true intentions.
Some believe she was unfairly targeted by prosecutors for engaging in the exaggerated self-promotion common in the tech industry.
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Holmes requested time to address childcare issues for her young children (Peter DaSilva/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Supporters argue that she had good intentions and was singled out as a woman who threatened the male-dominated Silicon Valley.
Throughout the trial, Holmes maintained her innocence, detailing her traumatic experiences of rape and abuse.
When it came time to sentence the then-pregnant Holmes in November, US District Judge Edward Davila seemed as puzzled as anyone about why she did what she did.
The judge expressed confusion over her actions and reflected on the contrast between the honest hard work that built Silicon Valley and the deception in Holmes' case.
”This is a fraud case where an exciting venture went forward with great expectations and hope, only to be dashed by untruth, misrepresentations, hubris and plain lies," Davila lamented while Holmes stood before him.
“I suppose we step back and we look at this, and we think what is the pathology of fraud?”