U.S. seeks 15 years for Elizabeth Holmes over Theranos fraud By Reuters

By Akriti Sharma and Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) – Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes ought to spend 15 years in jail and pay $800 million in restitution to traders defrauded within the blood testing start-up, U.S. prosecutors beneficial late on Friday.

The Division of Justice suggestion, made in a court docket submitting, got here as Holmes prepares to be sentenced subsequent week.

“Contemplating the extensiveness of Holmes’ fraud… the sentencing of 180 months’ imprisonment would replicate the seriousness of the offenses, present for simply punishment for the offenses, and deter Holmes and others,” the prosecutors mentioned.

Holmes earlier urged U.S. District Choose Edward Davila in San Jose, California to not ship her to jail.

A jury convicted the 38-year-old on 4 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy in January. Every depend carries a most 20-year jail time period. Any sentence would doubtless be served concurrently.

Prosecutors mentioned she lied to traders from 2010 to 2015 by promising Theranos Inc’s know-how might run many exams on one drop of blood from a finger prick.

Holmes had pleaded not responsible to prices that she lied about Theranos, together with that its know-how might detect ailments with a number of drops of blood, and mentioned the agency’s lab administrators had been answerable for take a look at high quality.

On Monday, Davila rejected her requests for a brand new trial, together with over a declare {that a} key prosecution witness visited her at dwelling and made statements that undermined his testimony.

Holmes based Theranos in 2003 on the age of 19. The corporate was as soon as valued at $9 billion, and Forbes journal estimated Holmes’ web value at $4.5 billion in 2015.

Theranos collapsed after the Wall Avenue Journal printed a collection of articles, beginning in 2015, that urged its units had been flawed and inaccurate.