SAN JOSE (TIP): Theranos’ former chief operating officer, Indian-origin Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani, has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for fraud that prosecutors said risked patient health and defrauded the blood-testing company’s investors of millions of dollars. Fremont’s Balwani, 57, was sentenced on Wednesday. December 7,  in California to 12 years and 11 months in federal prison for fraud that risked patient health by misrepresenting the accuracy of Theranos blood analysis technology and defrauded the company’s investors of millions of dollars, US Attorney Stephanie Hinds said.

In addition to the 155-month prison term, US District Judge Edward Davila sentenced Balwani to three years of supervision following release from prison. A hearing to determine the amount of restitution to be paid by Balwani is to be scheduled in the future. Balwani was ordered to surrender on March 15, 2023, to begin serving his prison sentence. Hinds said Balwani, in a desire to become a Silicon Valley titan, valued business success and personal wealth far more than patient safety. “He chose deceit over candor with patients in need of medical care, and he treated his investors no better,” Hinds said in a statement. Trial evidence showed that the fraud brought “spectacular personal wealth” to Balwani, who owned nearly 30 million shares of Theranos – over six per cent of the company – which were worth hundreds of millions of dollars at the peak of the fraud.

Balwani was born in Pakistan but his family is said to have moved to India. He moved to the US from India during the 1980s. FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp said Balwani not only deliberately concealed defects in Theranos’ blood-testing technology to mislead investors, but he also knowingly put patients’ health at risk. During his employment at the now defunct Theranos, Balwani held the positions of board member, chief operating officer and president.

(Source: PTI)