“sunny” balwani and elizabeth holmes were both involved in the failed blood-testing start-up theranos. balwani was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for 12 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while holmes was sentenced to over 11 years (135 months) in prison last month. the downfall of the company occurred in 2018, when the technology they claimed to have – the edison machine – was found to not work, and they were found guilty of deceiving investors in trials this year. balwani had direct oversight over the company’s labs and was found guilty of defrauding patients who used the blood tests. holmes had launched theranos after dropping out of stanford university at age 19, and its value rose sharply after the company claimed it could bring about a revolution in disease diagnosis. holmes claimed the technology could diagnose cancer, diabetes and other medical conditions from a finger prick, and the company raised millions of dollars from high-profile figures including former us secretary of state henry kissinger, media magnate rupert murdoch and oracle co-founder larry ellison. the technology did not work, and the company fell apart in 2018, leading to the trials and sentences of holmes and balwani.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63895825?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
