Ramesh Balwani, the main contributor and ex-boyfriend of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, was convicted on Thursday of defrauding investors and patients of the bankrupt blood analysis company.
The jury found Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani guilty of 12 counts of fraud brought by federal prosecutors, a spokesperson for the court in San Jose, Silicon Valley, told AFP. The sentence is expected to be announced at the end of the year and the convict risks spending several years in prison.
Balwani was tried separately from former American biotech star Elizabeth Holmes, whose trial in the same room ended in January. The verdict found her guilty on four counts of tricking investors into pumping money into what she claimed was a revolutionary blood test system.
Despite that, the jury — which heard weeks of complex evidence — also acquitted her on four counts and failed to reach a verdict on three others. Holmes is expected to receive his sentence in September.
During the trial, Holmes stated that Balwani was physically and emotionally abusive in their relationship, statements he rejected.
Holmes and Balwani are rare examples of tech-sector executives responding to accusations for the demise of a company, in an environment full of failed startups that once promised untold riches. His judgment highlighted the fine line that separates profit in the industry from criminal dishonesty.
US Attorney Robert Leach told jurors in San Jose federal court that Balwani ran the business alongside Holmes and that the two were “partners in everything, including his crime.”
Stephen Cazares, Balwani’s lawyer, assured that his client did not commit fraud and was convinced of the potential of Theranos.
Balwani, nearly two decades older than Holmes, was hired to help run the company she founded in 2003, when she was 19.
Holmes, now 38, promised his own testing machines capable of performing a low-cost analytical range with just a drop of blood, a promise that was shattered as the fraud allegations surfaced.
Prosecutors allege Holmes and Balwani were aware that the technology was not performing as promised, but continued to promote it as revolutionary for patients and investors.
Personalities such as Rupert Murdoch and Henry Kissinger became interested in Theranos when it was on the crest of the wave. However, a Wall Street Journal report cast doubt on the company’s claims, which started Theranos’ decline.
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