Theranos founder Holmes ordered to prison, pay victims

The National Times - Theranos founder Holmes ordered to prison, pay victims

Theranos founder Holmes ordered to prison, pay victims / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Fallen US biotech star Elizabeth Holmes must begin serving prison time after a judge denied her latest request to remain free while appealing her fraud conviction.

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Holmes was sentenced to just over 11 years in prison for defrauding investors with her Silicon Valley start-up Theranos.

She was scheduled to begin doing time behind bars in late April, but her lawyers lodged a last-minute appeal on procedural issues after an earlier attempt was denied.

US Judge Edward Davila on Tuesday denied the new request and in a separate ruling ordered Holmes and her top Theranos lieutenant, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, to pay $452 million to victims of their fraud.

Holmes is to report to prison on May 30 to begin serving her sentence, Davila said in a written order.

According to media reports, the judge has recommended that she do her time at a women's prison in Texas.

Holmes was found responsible of duping investors into believing that she had developed a revolutionary medical device.

The 39-year-old became a star of Silicon Valley when she said her start-up was perfecting an easy-to-use test kit that could carry out a wide range of medical diagnostics with just a few drops of blood.

But her company flamed out after a Wall Street Journal investigation into the validity of the tests.

Holmes had a child shortly before her trial and has had a second since her conviction.

P.Sinclair--TNT

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