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

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271–280 of 557 posts

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

#271
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Criminal litigation authority is on a whitelist, not a blacklist. It's not that a law restricted them, it's that they simply were never granted that authority. Random government authorities can't bring criminal proceedings anymore than the meter maid writing a parking ticket has the ability to haul you to court for parking in the wrong place. They send the information along to the people who do have that authority an…

> The key words in the article are "civil, not criminal". My keyword is why .

You asked "Why can't the SEC send people to jail?", to which the answer is simply that they have not been granted that power -- whilst there is no law specifically restricting it, the SEC cannot act ultra vires its granted power, and doing so without authorisation would come up against false imprisonment, human rights etc.

IF you are asking "Why hasn't the SEC been granted the power to send people to jail?", then that's a deeper philosophical question. There would be a concern that the diffusion of such powers could be abused or wielded by non-judicial-experts who aren't necessarily acting in the interests of justice and broader public policy, and more generally the principle of separation of powers discourages such to prevent tyranny/the abuse of state power.

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

#272
Again, I will just state that the reason we (maybe secretly) take so much satisfaction / schadenfreude at this story is that someone who was so hyped and the darling of Silicon Valley got so much funding and attention. While others who toil away on good ideas, without nearly so many connections and silver spoons, struggle to even get 1 minute of air time with the kind of funders and backers that she got.

Separately, I hope that they absolutely nail and jail Sunny Balwani, who threatened and intimidated whistleblowing employees with their careers for exposing the massive fraud that Theranos was.

Finally, we should be thankful that the SEC and agencies like DHHS and CMMS actually still have some teeth and reputability to follow through on issues like this and have not been totally gutted. Imagine 100 years ago when hucksters like this were touting every fake medicine under the sun and people were actually grateful for public-serving regulation. The order from CMMS to Theranos actually essentially said, "You are in immediate jeopardy of violating the law and must provide proof that you're reversing the harm caused by your inaccurate / fraudulent medical test results. Simply closing your lab will not remove this jeopardy." Thank god for rules.

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

#273
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny fact, in 2013, Italy actually banned Silvio Berlusconi from holding public office for 6 years. But, that doesn't stop him from participating and trying to win elections anyways...

He's not participating personally: he can't be elected. But his party wasn't barred.

Right, they find someone else to sign the paperwork.

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

#275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tim Draper also stands to gain from Theranos being reviewed positively, valid product or not, being an investor.

That's true, which just compounds the problem of newbie investors thinking "fake it until you make it" is OK because they get positive reinforcement from their investors.

Not to condescend, genuinely curious... you really believe Tim Draper is an n00b?

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

#277
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I doubt Holmes can afford much of anything anymore.

I'm pretty sure that I won't find her living in a tent any time soon.

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

#278
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I interpreted it somewhat differently. The money paragraph seems to be > claimed that Theranos’ products were deployed by the U.S. Department of Defense on the battlefield in Afghanistan and on medevac helicopters and that the company would generate more than $100 million in revenue in 2014. In truth, Theranos’ technology was never deployed by the U.S. Department of Defense and generated a little more than $100,000 i…

What does "PPM" stand for?

Private Placement Memorandum - http://www.capitalfundlaw.com/blog/2015/04/05/whats-in-a-pri...

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

#279
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I interpreted it somewhat differently. The money paragraph seems to be > claimed that Theranos’ products were deployed by the U.S. Department of Defense on the battlefield in Afghanistan and on medevac helicopters and that the company would generate more than $100 million in revenue in 2014. In truth, Theranos’ technology was never deployed by the U.S. Department of Defense and generated a little more than $100,000 i…

What does "PPM" stand for?

"Private Placement Memorandum" - first result on googling 'investor PPM'

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

#280
His name is Tyler Shultz.

He is the main reason we know know what Theranos was doing.

He had his life destroyed, he knew it would happen, what Theranos would do to him, and he did the right thing all the same. Tyler Shultz is a hero.

Never let someone tell you that you don't matter. Try hard to do what is right. We need more people like him, be one of them too.

Be like Tyler Shultz.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/11/explosive-new-detail...

Edit: Pic: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3944392/Theranos-whi...

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