Disgraced Theranos Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani was sentenced today to 13 years behind bars for defrauding investors and patients.
U.S. District Judge Edward Davila handed down the sentence in a San Jose, California, federal courthouse.
Last July, Balwani was convicted of collaborating with Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes in a giant fraud scheme involving investors and patients of the blood-testing company. The startup falsely claimed that the device they developed could detect diseases and conditions from just a few drops of blood.
Holmes was sentenced in January to over 11 years in prison for her role in duping investors.
In addition to being second in command at Theranos, Balwani was Holmes’ boyfriend, although she claimed in her trial that Balwani sexually and verbally abused her.
Who is Ramesh Sunny Balwali?
Not much is known about Balwani, including how he got the nickname “Sunny.”
According to a New York Times expose, Balwani once worked as a sales manager for Microsoft and was president of a start-up called CommerceBid.com during the dot.com boom. Balwani made $40 million on that exit and eventually landed a job as the number two at Theranos.
He was later arrested and convicted of two counts of conspiracy and ten counts of wire fraud for his role in the multi-million-dollar Theranos scheme.
Balwani did not speak in his own defense during his trial or his sentencing. He is expected to appeal his conviction.
Jonathan Small
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