Elizabeth Holmes Has Been Found Guilty On Four Out Of Eleven Charges Of Fraud
If you felt the Earth rumble in a low vibration yesterday, don’t worry – it was likely just Elizabeth Holmes reacting to her guilty verdict with an unbelievably deep guttural “Nooooooooooo.” Because Elizabeth Holmes, the Silicon Valley blood-testing scammer with eyes that look like they were manufactured in a T-1000 factory, has been found guilty on four of the eleven things she was being charged with. And with that, all those Elizabeth Holmes biopics and limited series that are currently filming probably just scrapped their final scenes, and began rushing to write a script treatment for a jury deliberation.
Elizabeth Holmes’ scam began in 2003, when she was 19 years old and convinced venture capitalists and investment types to throw more than $700 million at her blood testing start-up, Theranos. Theranos got so much buzz, it was valued at $10 billion at its peak in 2013 and 2014, and Elizabeth’s face hit the covers of a bunch of magazines like Forbes and Fortune. But as many found out, it wasn’t exactly a viable company. In 2015, research was done by medical professionals on the science of Theranos, and let’s just say they had a whole bunch of questions. Eventually, all those questions caught up with Theranos, and in March 2018, Theranos, Holmes, and former Theranos president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani were charged with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC claimed Liz and Sunny committed an “elaborate, years-long fraud” where they “deceived investors” into thinking the Theranos portable blood tester could complete a comprehensive blood test with the prick of a finger.
So obviously running a fake blood testing company is a big no-no in the eyes of the government, the tech industry, and anyone who forked over their dollars to Elizabeth to get this thing started. And Elizabeth and Sunny were dragged to court. Their trial got a little messy, with it being revealed that a 19-year-old Elizabeth got with Sunny, who was 19 years older than her, while he was very much married with kids, and that they never disclosed their relationship to investors. Elizabeth also accused Sunny of abusing and controlling her. We also got to read a ton of cringey texts sent between Elizabeth and Sunny. Not to mention the truly wild courtroom sketches that looked more like Lo Bosworth from The Hills was on trial.
Dying at this Elizabeth Holmes court sketch – why did they even bother!? pic.twitter.com/VTKJhew0fc
— Jason Knight (@onejasonknight) November 29, 2021
Elizabeth was charged with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Yesterday, a jury found her guilty of four federal counts of fraud. via CNN:
She was found not guilty on three additional charges concerning defrauding patients and one charge of conspiracy to defraud patients. The jury returned no verdict on three of the charges concerning defrauding investors, and Judge Edward Davila, who is presiding over the case, is expected to declare a mistrial on those charges.
The charges Holmes was found guilty of include one count of conspiracy to defraud investors, as well as three wire fraud counts tied to specific investors. Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000 plus restitution for each count.
Broken down, it looks like this:
– Conspiring to commit wire fraud against investors in Theranos between 2010 and 2015
– Wire fraud in connection with a wire transfer of $38,336,632 on or about February 6, 2014
– Wire fraud in connection with a wire transfer of $99,999,984 on or about October 31, 2014
– Wire fraud in connection with a wire transfer of $5,999,997 on or about October 31, 2014
As for whether she’ll actually see 20 years of prison time will be a question answered during sentencing. 37-year-old Elizabeth has a 6-month baby boy she made with her 27-year-old hotel heir boyfriend/possible husband Billy Evans. But for all the actresses at home who have been cast as Elizabeth Holmes, take note! This is how she reacted to finding out she was guilty of four counts of fraud. via NBC News:
As the verdict was read out, Holmes appeared stoic, sitting much as she had during the course of the trial, bolt upright and nearly motionless.
After court was adjourned, Holmes went to her family. Her father, Christian Holmes, kissed her on her forehead, and she lightly touched her mother, Noel, and her partner, Billy Evans. The four left the courthouse hand in hand and, taking no questions, walked steadfastly through the crowd and the cold. Holmes remains free on bond.
There are currently two major projects about Elizabeth Holmes happening. Amanda Seyfried will star as Scamlizabeth in a limited series for Hulu titled The Dropout, whereas Jennifer Lawrence will portray Elizafraud in Adam McKay’s Apple film Bad Blood. So this situation is good for Hollywood because the original material is better than another Spider-Man I guess. But the real-life situation is such a waste! Millions and millions spent on a fake blood testing device when all those investors could have been dumping money into researching a delivery system that doesn’t make McDonald’s french fries taste like shit when they arrive at your house. What a shame!
Pic: Wenn.com