Live data from Hacker News

Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

sec.gov

41–50 of 557 posts

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#41
post #33
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternative take: it's disgusting and offensive to the foundational concept of blind justice that punishment is more highly correlated with charisma and obsequiousness to judges than it is to actual crimes committed.

I kind of agree [1], but I don't think that's why there's a difference between the cases. First of all, the Theranos people haven't yet been brought up on criminal charges, but it's still possible they could be, no? Secondly, I think there were lots of material differences between the two cases that caused them to be prosecuted differently. You can't just lump every instance of fraud as the same thing. [1] The reason…

On showing remorse: it's a bit ridiculous to think of this, since showing remorse does not mean you actually feel remorse. But it might mean you are intelligent enough to realise you need to show remorse to get off the hook.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SEC doesn't put people in prison, it can refer to Justice Department for prosecution. Whether it does or not, depends on the circumstances of the case. They prefer quick resolution rather than years of litigation.

Many people are in jail today because they can't post bail. You can discourage ever facing incarceration by being able to afford a good legal defense. You can be forced to accept incarceration without conviction because you are poor.

"In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread" - Anatole France

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#43
What exactly needs to happen for white collar criminals to be punished commensurate with their crime and consistent with the magnitude of "regular" criminals' punishment?

Holmes' punishment is effectively nil. Meanwhile:

[1] A man sells $40 with of cocaine and eventually 5.9g of weed lands him 20 years in prison.

[2] "Illegal" voting lands a woman 8 years and deportation.

[3] Possession of a few shotgun shells gets a man 15 years.

Meanwhile, defrauding investors hundreds of millions results in... nothing, really?

There's a word for this.

Unacceptable.

[1] http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-twe...

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/us/illegal-voting-gets-te...

[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/opinion/sunday/kristof-hel...

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#44
post #7

Won’t see a day of jail time while Shkrelli gets 7 years.

You dont really think a working class Albanian would get treated the same as a well connected blonde woman do you? This is America here.

Shkreli got convicted because he was running "Ponzi Scheme" where no one lost money. Figure that one out.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#45

Is Holmes still rich after this? I can't tell just how much of her wealth she's being forced to return in form of shares.

She's half a million poorer from the fine. Any proceed from the sale of the (worthless) shares will need to be returned to defrauded investors amounting to 750 mil before she gets anything.

So i think unless her entire position is sold for more then $36 a share she has lost everything from the company.

No idea what her personal finances were going in to this event.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#46

Ok, this is the money line in that press release for me: “The charges against Theranos, Holmes, and Balwani make clear that there is no exemption from the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws simply because a company is non-public, development-stage, or the subject of exuberant media attention.” For all those entrepreneurs are trying to "fake it until you make it" be aware that the SEC considers your…

It's worth nothing that one of Theranos's VC funders, Tim Draper, did defend Holmes despite the fraud allegations:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11973102

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/theranos-investor-cl...

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#48

So... the punishment for getting caught in massive fraud is that you just have to give back the stuff you got through fraud? Sign me up.

Unless of course you steal Holmes' car. Then you'll probably be killed, or at best, incarcerated for 10 years.

Remember kids, the rich are not playing the same game the rest of us are.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#50
post #44
post #7

Won’t see a day of jail time while Shkrelli gets 7 years.

You dont really think a working class Albanian would get treated the same as a well connected blonde woman do you? This is America here. Shkreli got convicted because he was running "Ponzi Scheme" where no one lost money. Figure that one out.

All he had to do was keep quite. Smirking to congress and being obnoxious in TV studios wasn't the smart play.

Offering a bounty for Clinton's DNA while she was under the protection of the secret services was pure suicide.

I quite like the guy if im honest.

Post reply on HN