According to lawyers, it’s no wonder Elizabeth Holmes co-defendant and former boyfriend Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani came out against her in the opening statement of his criminal fraud trial on Tuesday. ..
“Sunny Balwani didn’t start Theranos. He didn’t control Theranos,” Balwani lawyer Steve Kazareth told the jury in the opening discussion, the New York Times and other media organizations report. rice field.
The explanation of Balwani’s role was contrary to the role of the prosecutor who characterized the defendant as a criminal partner in Holmes. The 56-year-old Balwani faces twelve fraud and conspiracy charges related to his role as president and chief operating officer of Theranos, a Holmes blood testing company.
His trial is currently taking place in a court in San Jose, California, where a jury convicted Holmes four times in January for fraud and is one of Silicon Valley’s hottest cases. Is approaching the solution.
White-collar criminal defense experts say Balwani is at a slight disadvantage in facing a trial after Holmes testified that he had abused her and influenced her behavior in Theranos.
“Defense in this case begins with a deficit. We must overcome both the propaganda surrounding Holmes’ conviction and Holmes’ own statement to Balwani,” Gregory Gilchrist, a professor of law at the University of Toledo, told Yahoo Finance. ..
White-collar criminal defense experts say Balwani’s strategy is somewhat predictable. This is to open the door for proceedings against multiple defendants to point to the person responsible for Seranos’s false allegations that multiple diagnostic tests can be performed from finger puncture wounds.
“This saves Weinstein some responsibility and allows us to point our finger at Weinstein in making final decisions regarding statements to the general public, investors, or patients,” said former chairman. US Prosecutor Michael Weinstein said. Cole Shots White Collar Defense and Investigation Division.
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San Jose, CA-March 16: Former Theranos COO Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (2R) arrived in US Federal Court Robert F. Peckham on March 16, 2022 with the Legal Team in San Jose, Calif. (Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
According to BakerBotts’ criminal defense counsel, Kyle Clark, Balwani’s lawyers wisely constructed a distinction between Theranos’s only founder, Holmes, and his subordinate, Balwani, who joined five years after its founding. Unlike Holmes, Clark points out that Balwani has invested millions of dollars in Theranos, which he lost after the company’s implosion. Balwani expanded its $ 12 million credit line to the company before leaving the company in 2016, seven years later.
“I think Balwani puts his money at risk and emphasizes that he eventually lost some of it when Theranos shut down. He’s also an investor who lost money,” Clark said. rice field.
Although Balwani has the advantage of that distinction, Gilchrist pointed out that the pigeon testimony and evidence in the Holmes case pierced Balwani in a particular way.
“Ultimately, Balwani is entitled to compensation independent of his own trial, but everyone in court knows that the reality of this ideal and Holmes’ recent attention-grabbing beliefs is tense. increase.”
Balwani, who earned millions of executives during the dot-com boom, began dating Holmes shortly after dropping out of Stanford University at the age of 19. A psychologically abusive romantic partner whose control demands behind the scenes influenced her decision.
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, is emotional when asked to read a romantic text between herself and her ex-boyfriend Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani in a court sketch on November 30, 2021. Will be. REUTERS / Vicki Behringer
“I think the jury instinctively has problems with age differences and his experience in the industry,” Weinstein said. “So they may have higher expectations from him about how to carry himself through the business.”
Theranos, as Holmes advertised, invested before it collapsed as a result of the bomb’s 2015 Wall Street Journal report, which revealed that it didn’t actually perform a series of blood tests from finger stings. Raised nearly $ 1 billion from home. Balwani was charged in 2018 with 12 felony charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to attempt a wire fraud. Each can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
A Holmes jury has convicted four of the 11 charges filed against her, and she will be sentenced on September 26.
Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed..
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