U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila in California refused to dismiss criminal charges Oct. 13 against Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and the company's former president and COO, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ms. Holmes and Mr. Balwani are facing wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud charges related to what prosecutors say were misleading claims about blood testing technology used by Theranos. A trial for Ms. Holmes, which was pushed back due to COVID-19, is scheduled for March 9, and Mr. Balwani is awaiting a separate trial at a later time, the Journal reported. Both are facing up 20 years in prison if convicted.
Theranos shut down in 2018 after the Journal ran multiple articles about its technology and business practices. Prosecutors claim Ms. Holmes and Mr. Balwani committed fraud related to investors and patients through false claims that the company's technology could use one drop of blood to test for various diseases at a lower cost.
Attorneys for Ms. Holmes and Mr. Balwani sought dismissal of criminal charges, partially because they said prosecutors took too long to file new indictments related to the alleged scheme and didn't sufficiently explain the charges, according to the Journal. But the publication reported that Mr. Davila said the new indictments provided clarity on previous charges.
Attorneys for Ms. Holmes did not immediately respond to the Journal's request for comment, and an attorney for Mr. Balwani declined to comment.
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