Blood-testing startup owner jailed for fraud

The founder of Theranos, a blood-testing startup, Elizabeth Holmes, has been sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison for defrauding investors of millions of dollars.

Holmes told investors about a technology that could scan for multiple health conditions with just a few drops of blood.

Holmes, who is expected to start her sentence in April 2023, was sentenced on three counts of investor fraud and one count of conspiracy by a US District Judge, Edward Davila, in California on Friday, reports NPR.

Before the pronouncement, Davila said, “The tragedy of this case is that Ms. Holmes is brilliant”, concluding that Holmes was driven by greed to lead investors into believing that her company could do far more than she knew possible.

According to reports, the company which was once valued at $9bn, gathered nearly $1billion in investment in the guise that the blood-testing devices would transform healthcare.