15-Year Prison Sentence Requested for Holmes in 'Theranos Scandal'

Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos (Photo by Reuters)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Prosecutors have demanded a 15-year prison sentence for Elizabeth Holmes, former CEO of the biotech venture Theranos, who was charged with perpetrating a fraud claiming to have developed technology capable of testing hundreds of diseases with just a drop of blood.

According to major foreign media on the 12th (local time), prosecutors submitted documents to the court stating, "Holmes was blinded by ambition and distorted reality, leading people down a dangerous path," and requested a sentence of 180 months in prison along with $800 million (approximately 1.0552 trillion KRW) in damages.

In January of this year, a California jury found Holmes guilty on four charges, including fraud and conspiracy.

However, Holmes' defense attorneys argued in court documents that since she did not gain any material benefit from the fraud, a prison sentence would be unjust, and if the court imposes imprisonment, it should not exceed 18 months.

The sentencing trial for Holmes will be held on the 18th at the San Jose court in California.

Holmes claimed to have developed a revolutionary device capable of diagnosing over 250 diseases using a tiny amount of blood collected from a fingertip, which once attracted Silicon Valley investors, but her diagnostic technology was revealed to be fictitious, leading to her downfall.

A dropout from the prestigious Stanford University, she garnered public attention by cultivating a persona and storytelling that deceived prominent Silicon Valley investors, always wearing a black turtleneck shirt like Apple’s Steve Jobs, with her blonde hair.

Theranos, founded by Holmes at age 19 in 2003, was once valued at $9 billion, and in 2015, Holmes’ net worth was estimated at $4.5 billion (according to Forbes).

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