Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is likely to face charges of wire fraud within the next six weeks after prosecutors and her defense team called for a halt to the pregnancy. She would stand trial on July 13 this year.
The lawyers lodged a complaint with Judge Edward Davila on Friday, requesting that the trial be adjourned until August 31. Both sides agree to the change.
‘On March 2, 2021, Defendant’s counsel notified the government that the defendant was pregnant, with an expected deadline in July 2020,’ the joint submission reads.
“The parties have met and are meeting, and both parties agree that in view of this development it is not feasible to start the trial on 13 July 2021, as currently scheduled.”
The judge has not yet ruled on a delay, but given the prosecution and defense it has both requested, it will likely be granted. As a result, Holmes is likely to stand trial on the requested date – 31 August – but the judge can choose to exercise the discretion at the right time,
Holmes and the former managing director of Theranos, Sunny Balwani, are facing a dozen charges of wire fraud related to their time at the company.
Both Holmes and Balwani could face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted. Holmes’ trial was initially scheduled for July 28, 2020, but was delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Theranos, founded in 2003 by Holmes with the aim of revolutionizing blood tests, said it created a machine that would perform hundreds of laboratory blood tests from just one or two fingertips of blood.
The company invested more than $ 700 million in investments and quickly became a media sensation. Theranos was once valued at $ 9 billion. However, Holmes was later accused of misleading investors, doctors and patients when it emerged that Theranos’ allegations were false. She was charged in 2018.
“Based on these representations, many hundreds of patients have paid their medical insurance companies or caused them to pay Theranos for blood tests and test results, sometimes after referrals from their fraudulent doctors,” Holmes’ initial charge sheet said.
“This charge alleges a conspiracy to defraud financial investors,” FBI Special Agent John Bennett said in 2018. “This conspiracy has misled doctors and patients about the reliability of medical tests that endanger health and lives.”
Holmes’ legal team expressed an intention to increase her mental state as part of the defense, and wrote in an earlier court that they would institute material related to a mental illness or defect or any other mental condition that the accused is adhering to. . the issue of debt. ‘
Prosecutors were given the right to examine Holmes’ mental health and two experts, a psychologist and a psychiatrist, were given the same rights.
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