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The government is charging Elizabeth Holmes in criminal court

She could go to prison.

The government is charging Elizabeth Holmes in criminal court

[Photo: Flickr user Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan]

BY Katharine Schwab0 minute read

Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and former chief executive of the disgraced diagnostics company Theranos, is going to court. Federal prosecutors have slapped Holmes and the company’s former president and COO Ramesh Balwani with criminal charges, accusing them of defrauding doctors, patients, and investors, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal was the first to report the shady practices going on inside Theranos back in 2015, when the startup had a multi-billion-dollar valuation and Holmes was a media darling who drew comparisons to Steve Jobs. The indictment is the result of a two-and-a-half year investigation by the San Francisco U.S. attorney’s office and comes a few months after civil charges were filed by the SEC. Besides accusing Holmes and Balwani of fraud, those charges mandate that Holmes is not allowed to lead a public company for at least 10 years–a requirement that might be easier to fulfill now that she could end up in prison.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katharine Schwab is the deputy editor of Fast Company's technology section. Email her at kschwab@fastcompany.com and follow her on Twitter @kschwabable More


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