- Holmes is fighting an offer from prosecutors that she pay $900M in restitution
- He argues that his crimes are not responsible for the losses of Theranos investors.
- Holmes is due to start an 11-year prison sentence next month
Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is seeking to pay back nearly $900 million owed to investors in her failed company.
In a recent court filing, Holmes turned down an offer from prosecutors that she pay back the entire $878 million that investors put in to back her medical testing startup, which backs its claims about the technology. Was trapped for being a liar.
Holmes was convicted last year, and she is serving her 11-year prison sentence on April 27. Sentencing was delayed when she gave birth to her second child, who was born the previous month.
High-profile investors backing Theranos included former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, along with high-profile venture capital firms.
In the latest filing, Holmes’ lawyers argue that there is no evidence that investors put their money into Theranos as a result of her fraudulent claims, or that her crimes were responsible for the company’s collapse.
‘With few exceptions, the investors did not submit victim impact statements certifying the amount or nature of their investments,’ Holmes’ lawyers argued in a filing seen by DailyMail.com.
‘The records contain little or no information about the circumstances of many investors’ decisions to invest, including what information they consider, rely on, or find important.’
The defense motion also points out that US District Judge Edward Davila previously ruled that prosecutors had not established that Holmes’ criminal conduct caused Theranos’ downfall.
‘Together, these findings—which the government does not contest in its restitution submission—attribute the entire decline in Theranos’ value to criminal conduct,’ the motion argues.
If Holmes is ordered to pay damages, it is unclear whether she will come up with the funds to do so.
Her lawyers have previously argued that she has essentially no assets, although in court filings she has said she is pursuing several patents.
Prosecutors allege Holmes lives a lavish lifestyle with her partner, Evans, whose family owns a chain of upscale hotels in San Diego.
However, despite reports that they secretly married, court filings describe Evans as Holmes’ partner and fiancé.
Any restitution order could apply to Holmes’ future assets and income, meaning she could face garnishment if she returns to work after serving her prison sentence.
Holmes is due back in court on March 17 for a hearing about her bid to remain free during the appeals process, which could take several years to complete.
Last month, her lawyers cited her recently born child as another reason why she should be allowed to delay the start of her prison sentence of more than 11 years while her lawyers appeal her sentence. We do.
The filing didn’t reveal the date of birth or the gender of the baby, but the news isn’t surprising.
Holmes, 38, was pregnant at the time of her sentencing Nov. 18 in the same San Jose, California, courtroom where a jury convicted her of four counts of fraud and conspiracy.
The start of that trial was delayed so that Holmes could give birth to her first child, a son. Holmes had two children with her current partner, William ‘Billy’ Evans.
She met Evans in 2016 following a break-up with her ex-boyfriend and business partner Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani, who was convicted of 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy in a separate trial.
Balwani, 57, is trying to persuade US District Judge Edward Davila to delay the start of his nearly 13-year prison sentence.
A hearing was held on his request earlier this month, but Davila has yet to issue a ruling.
Holmes became pregnant with her second child sometime between her January 2022 sentencing and 10 months after her sentencing.
Her pregnancy was confirmed by her fiancé Billy Evans in a November court filing and was pictured with a noticeable baby bump later in the month during her sentencing hearing.
Her lawyers now argue that she is a ‘mother of two very young children’ as they argue that her imprisonment should be delayed until her appeal is completed.
Prosecutors have argued that Holmes is a flight risk and should not be allowed to remain free after the day he is due to be jailed.
They claim that Holmes tried to flee the country on a one-way ticket to Mexico after his conviction, and only canceled the trip after a prosecutor contacted his attorney about the ticket.
Defense lawyers, however, fired back, arguing that the prosecution had ‘negligently and wrongly’ alleged that he tried to evade accountability.