Former Theranos boss, Elizabeth Holmes, found guilty of fraud and conspiracy

Ex- Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes was once touted as “the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire” by trumpeted Forbes magazine. Now she has been convicted of duping investors into believing her startup Theranos, had developed a revolutionary medical device that could detect a multitude of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood.

A jury of eight men and four women convicted Holmes on two counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud after seven days of deliberation. She was acquitted on four other counts of fraud and conspiracy that alleged she deceived patients who paid for Theranos blood tests, too.

Out of the 11 charges against Holmes, she was acquitted on all that related to defrauding patients and one count of conspiracy. The jury remained deadlocked on three counts of defrauding investors. The underlying wire fraud amounts on those counts ranged from $99,000 to $5.3 million.

In total, Holmes was found guilty of defrauding investors of nearly $145 million. The underlying wire fraud amounts for those charges ranged from $38 million for PFM Healthcare Master Fund, a San-Francisco based healthcare hedge fund, to almost $100 million for Lakeshore Capital Management, a fund connected to the DeVos family office.

Holmes faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each charge, likely to be served concurrently.

The US Attorney Stephanie Hinds said in a prepared statement read outside the courthouse by a representative, “The guilty verdicts in this case reflect Ms. Holmes’ culpability in this large-scale investor fraud and she must now face sentencing for her crimes.”

Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 based on having high-tech blood-testing technology that required only very small blood samples. By December 2004, Holmes had raised $6 million to fund the firm and at the end of 2010, Theranos had raised more than $92 million from venture capitalists. In the end, she raised $945 million from high-profile investors including the family of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Rupert Murdoch and the Walton family.

As the verdict was read out, Holmes showed no emotions. After court was adjourned, Holmes met with her family – her father, mother and partner, Billy Evans. Four of them left the courthouse hand in hand and, taking no questions, walked steadfastly through the crowd and the cold. Holmes remains free on bond.