Elizabeth Holmes Promised Miracles By A Finger Prick. Her Fraud Trial Starts Tuesday

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Elizabeth Holmes, founder and former chief executive officer of Theranos Inc., right, exits U.S. federal court in San Jose, in May.

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Elizabeth Holmes Plans To Accuse Ex-Boyfriend Of Abuse At Theranos Fraud Trial

Both she and Balwani, who will be tried separately next year, have pleaded not guilty. If convicted, each faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Holmes, who has since married the heir to a California hotel chain, Billy Evans, recently gave birth. Her lawyers have requested arrangements so that she may bring her baby boy to court.

‘Fake it until you make it’ approach led to criminal charges

A Stanford dropout, Holmes dazzled Silicon Valley by founding Theranos at age 19. She promised its technology could screen patients for hundreds of diseases with just a finger prick of blood.

Holmes cultivated a mystique that included a signature black turtleneck like Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, whom she greatly admired.

Big names from former President Bill Clinton to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim believed in the company, helping it attract global investment and a valuation of more than $9 billion before its fall from grace in 2015.

That’s when a series of stories in The Wall Street Journal showed that Theranos was not using some new, breakthrough equipment, as Holmes had claimed. Journalist John Carreyrou revealed that, instead, the company relied mostly on traditional blood-processing machines. And Carreyrou’s reporting revealed a pattern of flaws and inaccuracies in patient results.

«There’s an expression that’s become synonymous with the business culture of Silicon Valley, which is, ‘Fake it until you make it,' Carreyrou told NPR about Holmes. «She thought it was OK to behave that way.

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Elizabeth Holmes speaks as former U.S. President Bill Clinton listens during the closing session of the Clinton Global Initiative 2015.

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Sunny Balwani, former president and chief operating officer of Theranos Inc., center, exits federal court in San Jose, California, U.S., on Monday, April 22, 2019.

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Sunny Balwani, former president and chief operating officer of Theranos Inc., center, exits federal court in San Jose, California, U.S., on Monday, April 22, 2019.

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Holmes’ legal team is expected to cast the story in a different light, arguing that while Holmes may have exaggerated her company’s achievements, she never intended to mislead patients and investors.

And Thomas Joo, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, says convincing the jury that Holmes intentionally defrauded investors and patients won’t be easy.

«They may have thought that she mistakenly had too much faith in her product. She said false things, but if you say them unintentionally, it’s not a crime, Joo said.

While Lepera is not hopeful that she will ever recoup her investment in Theranos, she said if the jury convicts Holmes, it will be something of a relief.

«I would feel good if justice was served, Lepera said.