Sunny Balwani Convicted of Fraud

Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, a Silicon Valley executive, was found guilty of defrauding investors as part of a scheme with ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes. He falsely and repeatedly claimed that their company, Theranos, possessed a device capable of detecting hundreds of diseases with just a few drops of blood.

In a separate trial in January, Holmes was found guilty of accusing Balwani of abuse, which he denies. A judge will sentence Holmes, 38, and Balwani, 57, in the autumn. Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison and is currently out on bail. Balwani also faces up to 20 years in prison and restitution payments totaling millions of dollars to his victims.

Theranos was once worth $9 billion (£7.5 billion), but it was based on ineffective blood testing technology. The verdict was read aloud at a courthouse in San Jose, California, the heart of Silicon Valley, on the fifth day of jury deliberations. Balwani was found guilty of all twelve charges levelled against him.

Prosecutors showed text messages sent by Balwani to Holmes during closing arguments on June 21. "At Theranos, I am responsible for everything," he wrote in 2015. "They were all my decisions as well."