Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes tried to escape to Mexico before conviction
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The filing by prosecutors states that a one-way ticket to Mexico for last January was already booked by the founder.
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Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes arriving at a court hearing in California in July 2019 (Reuters)
It was revealed by prosecutors on Thursday that Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes, now disgraced for fraud and due for a prison sentence this year, attempted to “flee the country” to Mexico following her conviction last year, according to prosecutors.
This information was exposed in a court filing, which opposed Holmes’ request not to go to prison during her appeal. The filing by prosecutors states that a one-way ticket to Mexico for last January was already booked by the founder who did not cancel the trip after her conviction. The flight was set to depart a few weeks after she was charged guilty, but the moment came when her defense team was confronted by prosecutors.
In assessing it, prosecutors added that it’s “difficult to know with certainty what [Holmes] would have done had the government not intervened,” and argued that it was obvious she “has both the means and the motive to flee" given her lavish lifestyle and remorselessness for the crime of fraud.
On account of that, Holmes’ attorney fired back by clarifying that even though the trip was booked before the verdict came out, she wasn't intending on taking the trip but didn't cancel it either due to “everything that has been going on” regarding the trial.
Her attorney offered no explanation exists as to why it was a one-way ticket with no return flight to the US.
Stanford dropout
Her 11-plus-year prison sentence begins in April of this year, and she is prohibited from leaving Northern California. Although she requested that the court be lenient on her travel restrictions, prosecutors believe that her April date is already "generous" given that she is currently pregnant.
“There are not two systems of justice — one for the wealthy and one for the poor — there is one criminal justice system in this country,” prosecutors stated, adding, “And under that system, the time has come for Elizabeth Holmes to answer for her crimes committed nearly a decade ago.”
The former president and chief operating officer, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, received a sentence of 12 years, and 9 months in jail, along with three years of probation.
Holmes's company falsely claimed it could detect diseases with a few drops of blood, knowingly misleading investors, doctors, and patients about her startup's blood testing capabilities, in order to take their money. She also confessed to the jury back in December 2021 that she personally used the letterhead of Pfizer and Schering-Plough on documents sent to potential business partners and investors without the two companies' knowledge or consent.
She founded Theranos after dropping out of Stanford University at the age of 19, and its worth skyrocketed as the business claimed it might revolutionize disease diagnosis.
