Ex-Theranos President Sunny Balwani Found Guilty of Fraud (axios.com) 13
Sunny Balwani, the former president and chief operating officer of bankrupt blood-testing company Theranos, on Thursday was found guilty of 12 counts of conspiracy and fraud against certain investors and patients. Axios reports: It's a similar verdict to one handed down in January to Theranos founder and ex-CEO Elizabeth Holmes, who once dated Balwani. Balwani isn't a household name like Holmes, but he was instrumental in building a billion-dollar house of cards that duped both investors and patients. Balwani's attorneys tried to pin the blame for Theranos' failures on Holmes, much as her attorneys had tried to blame Balwani.
As we wrote when the trial began: Holmes tried to thread an incredibly narrow rhetorical needle, denying the existence of fraud while also redirecting blame. Balwani seems to be attempting something similar; claiming he was a savvy executive with lots of past success, but also a naif who was bamboozled by Holmes. But prosecutors, who originally wanted to try the pair together, often used Balwani's own words against him. For example, they presented a text message from Balwani to Holmes that read: "I am responsible for everything at Theranos." One big difference between the trials, however, was that Balwani didn't testify in his own defense.
As we wrote when the trial began: Holmes tried to thread an incredibly narrow rhetorical needle, denying the existence of fraud while also redirecting blame. Balwani seems to be attempting something similar; claiming he was a savvy executive with lots of past success, but also a naif who was bamboozled by Holmes. But prosecutors, who originally wanted to try the pair together, often used Balwani's own words against him. For example, they presented a text message from Balwani to Holmes that read: "I am responsible for everything at Theranos." One big difference between the trials, however, was that Balwani didn't testify in his own defense.
Holmes' Defense (Score:3)
He should've tried the Holmes' defense: get pregnant so you can have a kid and hope for sympathy; say you were just a helpless woman; blame the man.
Re: (Score:3)
Maybe he will identify as a woman and claim that
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Holmes' Defense (Score:4, Informative)
Let's see what happens with her sentencing.
Typical upper management (Score:2)
Attempt to take all the credit for the successes with which they had little to do with and shift the blame for failures and/or legally culpable behavior.
Re:Typical upper management (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
This has been officially the human way since way before that.
Both should get 20 years (Score:5, Interesting)
Healthcare scams should get no mercy.
Re: (Score:1)
Great! (Score:2)
Bye, Sunny (Score:1)
Worse than Holmes (Score:2)
Much worse outcome for him than for Holmes. More proof of the young blonde woman privilege theory. Anybody claiming it's racist because Bulwani is brown?