An entrepreneur accused of scamming investors for millions of dollars with a bogus blood test has surprised a US court by testifying in her defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elizabeth Holmes is accused of making false claims about her firm Theranos, including that its technology could detect diseases with a drop of blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms Holmes, 37, faces multiple charges of fraud and could spend years in jail if found guilty. She denies wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At its peak her firm was valued at $9bn (\u00a36.5bn).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking the stand Ms Holmes said her work at Theranos had made her believe in the company’s technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She explained about how she founded the firm after dropping out of Stanford University, and how her team made an apparent technological breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We worked for years with teams of scientists and engineers to miniaturise all of the technologies in the laboratory,” she told jurors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who is Elizabeth Holmes and why is she on trial?
Throughout the two-month trial, jurors in California have heard testimony from more than two dozen prosecution witnesses. They include patients and investors who prosecutors say Ms Holmes deceived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms Holmes rose to fame in 2013 thanks to technology she claimed could test for multiple diseases using just a few drops of blood from a finger prick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She attracted high-profile investors including Rupert Murdoch but in 2015 a whistleblower revealed the tests did not work, and the billionaire fell from grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 2018 Theranos had collapsed amid one of the biggest corporate scandals in recent US history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms Holmes has pleaded not guilty to nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her lawyers say she did not intend to defraud, but instead “naively underestimated” the challenges her business faced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trial, which began in September, is expected to run until next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s been described as Silicon Valley’s trial of the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Books, podcasts, even a Hollywood film has been commissioned about what happened at the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet up until now it wasn’t clear whether Ms Holmes would give evidence – defendants are not obliged to testify in US criminal cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Removing her mask the jury was able to see the defendant for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She smiled and spoke with confidence about the company’s origins and why she wanted to help people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s a seriously risky move for the defence, as it now opens Ms Holmes up to cross-examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move could be viewed as a sign of weakness, allowing the prosecution at the subject in a fraud case could backfire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Holmes clearly believes that she can convince jurors that her intentions were honourable, and that she was unaware of Theranos’ major problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has an awful lot on the line. If found guilty she could face up 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An entrepreneur accused of scamming investors for millions of dollars with a bogus blood test has surprised a US court by testifying in her defence. Elizabeth Holmes is accused of making false claims about her firm Theranos, including that its technology could detect diseases with a drop of blood. Ms Holmes, 37, faces multiple charges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n