Elizabeth Holmes convicted of fraud

[magic]

If you'd dealt with people that have cluster B disorders you might not find the desire to isolate (or eliminate) them to be quite so disturbing, certainly dealing with them can be disturbing. Lack of empathy shows up in more than just psychopaths.

Yeah, nerds come to mind

If you have empathy you will spot a psychopath or narcissist right away and recognize that exploiting the manic cycle of a borderliner rewards you with an anger cycle like night follows day.

[james_s]

If you have empathy you will spot a psychopath or narcissist right away and recognize that exploiting the manic cycle of a borderliner rewards you with an anger cycle like night follows day.

That's not true at all. It's very difficult to spot one, most are very good at hiding it, psychopaths in particular are notorious for being very charming and likable people. All of these disordered people tend to "mask" for a while, it can be several months of hanging out with them before the mask starts to slip and they show their true selves. Sooner or later yes, it's easy to spot one, but by then the damage has often been done.

[magic]

Well, I have heard it many times and I don't believe it.

All my serious interactions with toxic people were either being born into family I didn't get to choose or deciding to put up with them for the time being due to other considerations. Some of those decisions were poor in retrospect, but I approximately knew what I was getting myself into.

I never struggled with telling apart charming from sleazy, even the sort of sleazy that fooled some gullible people, or those who were simply lazy because it wasn't them who suffered from being enablers.

They slip more often than they think they do. Little shitty things they do or say to others, which perhaps don't mean too much in isolation, but quickly add up if one pays attention to detail. A lot can be learned from reactions of others who know the suspect for a long time, even if they aren't willing to talk openly.

Don't be afraid to be judgmental. The most manipulative narcissist and pathological liar I have ever seen (the sort of guy who lies so much and so elaborately that he sometimes gets lost and honestly believes shit he had fabricated a week prior) I hated since the moment I saw his artificially pleasing face the first time. Throw out all that liberal brainwashing and learn to trust your gut.

IME most victims and enablers are simply lazy, ignorant, willingly blind, acting out of desperation, or getting out-exploited by somebody they tried to exploit themselves. Whom I don't blame are those born into pathology, this can be sad indeed.

[Nominal Animal]

If you have empathy you will spot a psychopath or narcissist right away and recognize that exploiting the manic cycle of a borderliner rewards you with an anger cycle like night follows day.

That's not true at all. It's very difficult to spot one, most are very good at hiding it, psychopaths in particular are notorious for being very charming and likable people. All of these disordered people tend to "mask" for a while, it can be several months of hanging out with them before the mask starts to slip and they show their true selves. Sooner or later yes, it's easy to spot one, but by then the damage has often been done.

I fully agree with james_s here.

Also, it is much easier to detect a manipulator when they interact with someone else, and do not notice yourself.  That is, it is much, much easier to detect a manipulator when observing them without interacting with them directly.

[Nominal Animal]

IME most victims and enablers are simply lazy, ignorant, willingly blind, acting out of desperation, or getting out-exploited by somebody they tried to exploit themselves. Whom I don't blame are those born into pathology, this can be sad indeed.

I am easily manipulated in face-to-face.  I only realize it having happened afterwards, when I wind down (the same day).  I know a few others who are similar.  I do not know if this is cultural/upbringing, or something genetic, or what.

The main difference to me is whether one gets manipulated by the same person repeatedly; and most importantly, whether one admits having been manipulated.
In my experience, anyone and everyone can be fooled at least once, so I cannot and will not blame the victim for that.

But when the victim refuses to admit having been manipulated, especially if in the face of clear proof, my empathy tends to dry out quite quickly.  That attitude leads to pathological results.

getting out-exploited by somebody they tried to exploit themselves

Greed, like those actually answering to emails from Nigerian Princes looking to invest huge sums of money, is outside my empathy.
Just like Elizabeth Holmes' exploits.
I'd like both sides of such exploits to lose money.

The borderline to me is romance exploits: "I'm stuck in X, and need to borrow a few k$", etc.
On one hand, they're so well publicized that everyone should be aware of the pattern.  On the other hand, it is exactly their willingness to help those they perceive to be their close ones that is being exploited.

[SiliconWizard]

Well, I have heard it many times and I don't believe it.

It 100% depends on the person who is interacting with the "toxic"/manipulative one - usually the "narcissistic pervert" type.
Some people can easily spot them and avoid getting trapped, while others are totally unable to.
Also, whether the manipulative person is a close one or not matters a lot. It can be very hard to escape them if it's a close relationship with emotional ties.

Now when the only tie is a financial one, there is less excuse.

But all in alll, the same mechanism may be at play. You're letting the other person manipulate you in the hope of getting something valuable in return (be it affection, recognition, sex, money...), even if inconsciously.

We're always responsible of our own reactions and behaviors. But sometimes they are hard to control, and some people are very good at taking advantage of this.

[floobydust]

It's that the psychopaths aggressively claw their way to the top of a corporation, taking total control. They have an incessant need to be #1 in power and control.
Once you've got one as the boss, along with mortgage payments and bills to pay, family to support- you're gonna assume the position and take it.
Not all victims have choice or choose these bastards in their life. Newer research is over 12% of CEO's are psychopaths.

[james_s]

Frankly I'm surprised the estimate is as low as 12%.

That said, there are a lot of related conditions that show overlapping traits without necessarily being a full on psychopath. Narcissistic personality disorder is common and narcissistic traits are even more common.

[EEVblog]

getting out-exploited by somebody they tried to exploit themselves

Greed, like those actually answering to emails from Nigerian Princes looking to invest huge sums of money, is outside my empathy.
Just like Elizabeth Holmes' exploits.
I'd like both sides of such exploits to lose money.

In this case the investors were supposedly "sophisticated" investors. They should have done more due dilligence.
The odds of a 19/20yo student cracking a problem deemed impractical by everyone in the industry is borderline zero.
uBeam was exactly the same thing. Once that media hype train starts, it just gains momentum, until the wheels eventually fall off the billy cart.

[Nominal Animal]

getting out-exploited by somebody they tried to exploit themselves

Greed, like those actually answering to emails from Nigerian Princes looking to invest huge sums of money, is outside my empathy.
Just like Elizabeth Holmes' exploits.
I'd like both sides of such exploits to lose money.

In this case the investors were supposedly "sophisticated" investors. They should have done more due dilligence.
The odds of a 19/20yo student cracking a problem deemed impractical by everyone in the industry is borderline zero.
uBeam was exactly the same thing. Once that media hype train starts, it just gains momentum, until the wheels eventually fall off the billy cart.

Agreed.  I have no empathy towards those investors losing money either: they didn't do the job they get paid to do.  Any monkey can follow the hype and do whatever everyone else is doing.

[MrMobodies]

Here they go again:
https://news.sky.com/story/theranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes-appeals-against-unjust-conviction-for-blood-testing-scam-as-jail-date-approaches-12861645

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes appeals against 'unjust' conviction for blood-testing scam as jail date approaches
Thursday 20 April 2023 10:51, UK

Elizabeth Holmes has launched an appeal against what her lawyers say is an "unjust" conviction over the Theranos scandal.
...
She has now filed an appeal against her conviction, arguing the case against her "parroted the public narrative" that she knowingly and intentionally misrepresented to investors the capabilities of Theranos technology.

* "Theranos' groundbreaking  developments received many patents. And in 2015 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved an assay on Theranos' proprietary   technology," the filing continued.

** The lawyers also argued the government committed violations during its prosecution, which the judged "indulged" as he "abus[ed]    his discretion, according to the filing.

*** They argued key excluded testimony from Holmes' co-defendant, Sunny Balwani, implicated Balwani in running the company's finances.

The jury's guilty verdict for Holmes was "unjust"  , the lawyers wrote.

**** If they are not successful in getting a new trial, Holmes and her lawyers are also seeking a reduction to her sentence, which they called "severe" and erroneously decided.

"Theranos' groundbreaking developments received many patents. And in 2015 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved an assay on Theranos' proprietary   technology," the filing continued.

* I thought that was only one test they approved. (So she is claiming that the technology "worked" because the FDA approved of a test.)

** I thought the judge was taken in by her and her legal team granting her access to some luxury prison with no barriers with outside visits and activities to keep them occupied all day long and services that look after their mental health.

*** So they try to divert the blame to Balwani. (It's not fair, the judge is biased, it's Balwani's fault etc)

Joke: **** Maybe it's time for the courts to recognize that she and her legal team are just taking the p*ss and whatever liberties they can get out of the system and just bang Elizabeth Holmes up in a normal prison like everybody else that is known to be unjust and unfair so she can really see what unjust and unfair is like.

[magic]

In this case the investors were supposedly "sophisticated" investors. They should have done more due dilligence.
The odds of a 19/20yo student cracking a problem deemed impractical by everyone in the industry is borderline zero.
uBeam was exactly the same thing. Once that media hype train starts, it just gains momentum, until the wheels eventually fall off the billy cart.

Agreed.  I have no empathy towards those investors losing money either: they didn't do the job they get paid to do.

You need to learn more about how "just doing the job you are paid to do" perpetuates systemic bias and is antithetical to American Dream™ and Social Justice™.
Also, insert something about Progress™, Disruption™ and Paradigm Shift™ here.


Besides, if you think about it honestly, Facebook is complete shit and its beginnings were even more retarded and yet those who invested in it are billionaires

[Ed.Kloonk]

Well, to be fair there is(was!) so much money floating around in silicon valley that, like bad gamblers, it's only the big wins that you hear about. The dirty secret is they hedge in just about anything that has a heartbeat and if it's a dud it becomes a tax write-off against the big wins.

These duped investors rely on their successful reputation and spend a lot of PR dollars on protecting that image. The prosecution's instance that these people help throw her under the bus is not helpful to them. They don't care about the punishment, they just want the story to go away.

That said, with the high profile of the case, the media will portray any justice as a injustice. 

[Kjelt]

The odds of a 19/20yo student cracking a problem deemed impractical by everyone in the industry is borderline zero.

I don't know, IMO it depends on the person.
The human brain attains peak processing power and memory around age 18.
The chance that brilliant uniquely out of the box thinking, not being influenced with school programmed or academic boxing of how you should think and what is impossible has in the past lead to new ways of thinking and new theories from young persons. Mathematicians, physicists enough that really peaked in their late teens early twenties.

https://irisreading.com/at-what-age-is-your-brain-the-sharpest-4-tips-to-sustain-it-over-time/

[mendip_discovery]

To the ones running the funds it's a risk they take but it's often not with thier money. The money comes from savings, pensions etc etc. So when money like this gets squandered away and stolen by people it's not the ones at the top who suffer it's the ones lower down who get told that thier pension hasn't performed as well as expected and you will now have to keep on working.

At the end of the day she was convicted of a crime and that crime comes with a punishment. One which she is trying to use her finances to wriggle out of having to do. Would she have had children if it wasnt a stalling technique? The legal system can be a rather odd one at time, get caught stealing so you can feed your family, prison! Steal billions and its 1 year of house arrest but you can live in the 5 million pound mansion you bought with the money you stole. The UK has powers that allow them to recover the money but so far it's not worked out too well, it happens just takes so long to prove that most of the time they just drop it.

[MrMobodies]

At the end of the day she was convicted of a crime and that crime comes with a punishment. One which she is trying to use her finances to wriggle out of having to do.

Joke: If successful of getting out of her sentence that could be a Theranos groundbreaking development and put all the blame on Balwani who put $13 million of his savings as a loan in it as well.

https://news.crunchbase.com/health-wellness-biotech/sunny-balwani-theranos-trial/#:~:text=He helped run CommerceBid.com,was a secret, kind of.

He helped run CommerceBid.com, which was acquired for around $228 million in cash and stock in 1999.
...
Balwani received shares of the company, which he sold for more than $40 million
...
He loaned Holmes $13 million in the early days of Theranos.

https://nypost.com/2023/04/19/elizabeth-holmes-asks-judge-to-reduce-11-year-sentence/

Elizabeth Holmes asks judge to reduce 11-year sentence before heading to prison
By Ariel Zilber, April 19, 2023 12:21pm

Elizabeth Holmes’ attorneys are demanding that the disgraced Theranos founder be given a new trial or have her prison sentence reduced because they were prevented from presenting “compelling evidence.”

I thought they delayed things by demanding the prosecutors for documents they had wait for and now they are saying they were prevented from presenting their evidence despite the time they had.

— claimed that they were prevented from bringing up exculpatory statements from another convicted fraudster, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, her former boyfriend who was also president of Theranos.

“Balwani’s testimony is compelling evidence corroborating Holmes’s defense that she did not intend to defraud investors with the financial projections or conspire with Balwani to do so,” the attorneys wrote in the court filing.

I see, "Balwani did it, defrauded investors, point the blame on Ramesh Balwani instead for a lesser sentence."

If it is so unfair and unjust, maybe they should offer her a choice, that luxury fence-less prison or a normal prison.

[EEVblog]

Tomorrow is the day, right?

[coppice]

Tomorrow is the day, right?

For most valid values of "tomorrow" it is definitely a day.

[MrMobodies]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11999945/Elizabeth-Holmes-seen-fianc-son-newborn-daughter-Invicta-ahead-prison-sentence.html

By ALAN BUTTERFIELD, IN SAN DIEGO, FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 16:16, 25 April 2023 | UPDATED: 19:57, 25 April 2023

DailyMail.com found Holmes and Evans, 31, with their children spending their last few days together as family this week before she starts her sentence next Thursday.

A source in the neighborhood told DailyMail.com that Elizabeth has been putting a brave face on as she hopes against hope that a last-ditch bid will keep her out of prison – at least in the immediate future.

'She is very stoic on the outside, pretending like she doesn't have a care in the world, but on the inside she's got to be miserable,' said the insider.

Got to be joking. They call that "a brave face" whist trying to avoid not only a normal tough prison but the sentence altogether.
It doesn't take "a brave face" to go to court it takes money which many may not have and her new family has plenty of it.
Is she not representing herself in court? I thought it is the lawyers that are fighting for her not herself.

I'd like to see what brave face she'd have in a normal prison sentence.

[MrMobodies]

What a joke:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12012999/Elizabeth-Holmes-seen-spending-time-family-avoids-prison-tomorrow.html

EXCLUSIVE: Last minute reprieve! Elizabeth Holmes is seen walking barefoot on the beach with her husband and beloved babies as she AVOIDS reporting to prison tomorrow after court grants her appeal

EXCLUSIVE: Last minute reprieve! Elizabeth Holmes is seen walking barefoot on the beach with her husband and beloved babies as she AVOIDS reporting to prison tomorrow after court grants her appeal
Elizabeth Holmes, 39, has managed to avoid reporting to prison Thursday after her motion to remain free while her appeal is processed was granted today  DailyMail.com photos show the fraudster had been savoring her final moments with partner Billy Evans and their two children William, 2, and newborn Invicta Holmes was scheduled to leave her $9m beachside home for a federal lock-up most likely in Bryan, Texas on Thursday, before getting a last-minute reprieve
By ALAN BUTTERFIELD IN SAN DIEGO and KAREN RUIZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 18:58, 26 April 2023 | UPDATED: 19:30, 26 April 2023

Elizabeth Holmes has managed to temporarily avoid prison after being granted a last-minute reprieve just a day before she was scheduled to start her 11-year sentence.  The convicted fraudster, who has been holding out hope that her jail stint will be delayed after making several attempts to overturn her conviction, finally scored a legal victory Wednesday when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to stay her prison reporting date.

Holmes's lawyers filed a motion late Tuesday challenging District Court Judge Edward Davila's April 11 decision to deny her release while she appeals her guilty verdict, citing 'numerous, inexplicable errors' in the ruling.  The 11th-hour move means the Theranos founder will remain free on bail while the court considers her case.

Up until now, the mom-of-two had been putting on a brave face ahead of her sentence, going about her daily life as if nothing is bothering her. She and partner Billy Evans were seen doing everything they can to ensure that life goes on as normally as possible right up to the time she must swap her designer duds for a prison jumpsuit.

Holmes was scheduled to leave her $9million beachside home in San Diego and  give herself up to federal authorities by 2 pm Thursday to begin her sentence at a federal lock-up most likely 1,800 miles away in Bryan, Texas.  DailyMail.com caught up with the couple in the SoCal city on Tuesday afternoon as they walked their kids barefoot near their home.  Hotel heir Evans carried son William, 2, while Holmes carefully snuggled tiny Invicta, the daughter she gave birth to in February.

Perhaps showing her state of mind, the couple named the little girl after the Latin word for invincible. It can also mean unconquered. Holmes had previously asked Judge Edward Davila to delay her prison-start date until after all appeals have been exhausted, but those attempts had been denied up until Wednesday, when the Ninth Court of Appeals approved her motion.  The legal tactic deployed by Holmes mirrored a move made last month by her former lover and subordinate, Ramesh 'Sunny' Balwani, to avoid a prison reporting date of March 16. After the Ninth Circuit rejected his appeal three weeks later, Davila set a new reporting date of April 20.

* She is however facing potentially even more bad news with a new class action suit filed against Theranos and Walgreens Wednesday.

Evans is expected to move into a new $3million townhouse that is across the street from the ocean once she begins her prison sentence  As DailyMail.com reported Tuesday, Holmes and her multi-millionaire partner Billy had been spending as much time as possible with their kids before she is locked up for 11 years.

On Friday, the two were seen with an unidentified woman crossing the street from their beachfront mansion to the San Diego townhouse Billy and their two toddlers are planning on living in after she reports to prison. Elizabeth wore designer camo colored yoga pants, beige shirt and a straw hat.  Holmes's face was red except for around her eyes, it looked like had a sunburn.

Despite her unfortunate circumstances, she looked like she didn't have a worry in the world and even cracked a smile when at one point her friend showed her a picture on a cell phone. Evans had a bag slung across his shoulders, wearing blue jeans, T-shirt and carried a pink baby bouncer for their newborn. The unidentified friend had on a pink sun dress and straw hat.  The following day, the pair was seen during a grocery shopping trip at Whole Foods, this time without their children.

About an hour before, Elizabeth and Billy made their way over to the townhouse Elizabeth is not going to be living at, her parents were seen pushing their grandson, baby William in a blue toy cart across the street.  If by some minor miracle her current appeal is granted, and she can remain out on bail while her appeals are going through the court Elizabeth will join them. As previously reported by DailyMail.com, Billy is planning on raising their kids in a newly purchased $3million townhouse that is across the street from the ocean.

His parents bought the home for $3.25million last year just a month after Holmes had been convicted of four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy.  The townhouse has 1700 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, two car garage in a gated community.  The background has sweeping views of the famous Del Mar racetrack.  Over the past several days, Billy's parents have been seen at the townhouse, moving in items and rearranging the furniture inside. Elizabeth has been seen at the townhouse on a number of occasions but is believed to have yet spend a night there.

The former Theranos CEO and her partner are seen leaving federal court in San Jose on March 17. She was convicted of four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. Evans is from San Diego, he is heir to the Evans Hotel Group which manages three luxury hotels in the city, including the luxury five-star Lodge at Torrey Pines. He alone is reportedly worth $10million.

He has a younger brother, Rex who graduated from Cornell University, and younger sister, Gracie, who graduated from USC. Stanford dropout Holmes founded Theranos, when she was still a teenager in 2003, claiming she could revolutionize blood testing. Ten years later the value of the company shot up when it formed a partnership with Walgreens to offer in-store blood collection centers. By 2014 the company was said to be worth $9billion and Forbes ranked Holmes as the youngest self-made billionaire in the world.

But the following year an exhaustive investigation by the Wall Street Journal claimed Theranos's system provided false reports and revealed the company had been using commercially available machines from other companies for most of its testing, and Holmes was banned from operating a blood-testing service for two years. Lawsuits started flooding in and Theranos collapsed in scandal, eventually shuttering in 2018.

* Like that is going to make any difference to the leniency they are showing her here.

Past this point I think she could  continue stay out of prison and whilst that is happening she'd have a third child and go at everything else to stay out. It looks to me that they might even squash the conviction by the look of things.

[Nominal Animal]

newborn Invicta Holmes

She named her get-out-of-jail newborn daughter Invicta?

[SiliconWizard]

 

[Nominal Animal]

I wonder if Elizabeth Holmes' lawyer talked her out of naming her get-out-of-jail baby Filia Deae Super Leges Hominis, settling for Invicta.

[TimFox]

Presumably, "Invicta" is meant to be the female form of "Invictus", the famous poem by William Ernest Henley.

[MrMobodies]

newborn Invicta Holmes

She named her get-out-of-jail newborn daughter Invicta?

Making a joke of the system and I wonder what her third child will be called.

She also brought a pet dog she took to Theranos before she moved and named it after some other dog that apparently did a 600 mile journey in 1925.

SCAMS FEB. 21, 2019
Don’t Believe Anything Elizabeth Holmes Tells You About Her Dog
By Amanda Arnold@aMandolinz

After Elizabeth Holmes’s blood empire shuttered, but before she was hit with criminal fraud charges, the disgraced Theranos founder tried to get away with one last scam: convincing people that her dog, who pooped wherever he pleased, was a wolf.

In the fall of 2017 — while Theranos was under investigation by the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud — Vanity Fair reports that Holmes flew first-class across the U.S. to adopt a 9-week-old Siberian husky. Before she even officially adopted him, she knew she would name him Balto, after the world-famous sled dog that made a dangerous 600-mile journey in 1925, bearing medicine to save an entire village from diphtheria, who is known for his perseverance in the face of adversity. (She apparently felt that this represented Theranos’ journey, which, okay.)

To Holmes, however, her Balto was no regular dog: Upon discovering that a small part of Siberian huskies’ genomes trace back to an ancient wolf, Holmes decided that her puppy, too, was actually a wolf. She would reportedly repeat this thoroughly unsubstantiated claim to anyone who asked her about Balto’s breed — something she apparently still does to this day.

But during his short time at Theranos headquarters, Balto did act like a wild animal. Per Vanity Fair, the headstrong dog would defiantly march through Theranos’ labs alongside Holmes, contaminating samples with his hair left and right. He also reportedly had regular habit of pooping and peeing all over the Theranos headquarters, which he’d shamelessly do in front of guests and in the middle of board meetings.

Balto may not technically be a wolf, but he sure lives like one.

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2019/elizabeth-holmes-and-the-name-of-her-dog-or-maybe-her-wolf/

For Holmes, the dog represented the journey that lay ahead for Theranos. As she explained to colleagues at the company’s headquarters in Palo Alto.

Palto Alto... Balto... how creative.

3rd pass
1: Reappeal sentence.
2: Delay the court even more by asking the prosecutors for things that they have to wait for like documents.
3  Ask for sentence to be quashed.
4: Have another baby (2)
    Goto 1:

I saw a video on youtube once some years ago when someone was sentenced in court. They started criticizing the judge and jury but all they did was increased the sentence. With Elizabeth Holmes it seems the opposite, they seem to tolerate accusations made against themselves and all they do, give her reprieve from her sentence.

I think Holmes and her new family is effectively running the court putting the judge and jurors in "their places" where they want them them to be.