GUILTY CA - Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, 56, (Theranos), wire fraud charges

Friday, May 20th:
*Trial continues-(Day 20) (@ 9am PT) & Motions Hearing (@ 8:30am) - CA – *Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (53/now 56) (CFO & President of Theranos) indicted & charged (6/14/18) & arraigned (6/15/18) with 9 counts of wire fraud & 2 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Another count of wire fraud was added in 2020, bringing the total number of felony charges to 12. Plead not guilty. No bond. Faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison & a fine of $2.75 million, plus restitution, & $250K for each individual count of wire fraud & conspiracy. Plead Not guilty.
SEC 5:18-cv-01603 filed 3/14/18 pending; plead not guilty.
Defrauding investors out of $700 million in funding for their blood-testing startup Theranos.
Trial began on 3/22/22. Jury: 12 jurors (6 women & 6 men) & 6 alternates (2 women & 4 men). 3/21/22: Jury #1 sick, alternate moves to jury. 12 jurors (6 women & 6 men) & 5 alternates (2 women & 3 men). Trial Court will be in session on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays (from 9-3), but the jury may be asked to come in on some Mondays & Thursdays as well. Trial dates so far: 5/20 & motions (to exclude) hearing (@ 8:30am), 5/27, 6/7, 6/8, 6/10, 6/14, 6/15, 6/17, 6/21, 6/22, 6/24, 6/28, 6/29/22.

Indictment & court info from 4/11/20 thru 3/8/22 & Jury selection (Day 1-4) 3/9/22 to 3/15/22 & 3/16 to 3/21/22 & Trial Days 1-2 (3/22 to 3/23/22) & hearing on 3/29/22 & 4/12/22 & Trial Days 3-14 (3/30 to 4/29/22) & 5/3/22 & Trial Days 15-18 (5/4 & 5/13/22) & 5/17/22 (no jurors) Trial Day 19 (5/18/22) reference post #180 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...-56-theranos-wire-fraud-charges.614821/page-9

5/19/22 Thursday, Trial – NO jurors. Motion hearing to unseal documents. No info available…. Again….
Trial (Day 20) with jurors will continue on Friday, 5/20/22 @ 9am, with a motions hearing (re to exclude) @ 8:30am.

*Elizabeth A. Holmes (34/now 37) (CEO of Theranos) – Trial began on 9/8/21 & ended 1/3/22 with a verdict of guilty on 4 counts of 11. Next sentencing hearing on 9/26/22.
 
Looks like another motions hearing on Monday.

Monday, May 23 2022

- GENERAL DUTY
08:30AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh Sunny Balwani (NC)
Motion to Exclude

link: CALENDAR


And it looks Dorothy is covering another trial - so I guess "we" have to rely on MSM, which of course has nothing that I can find (over here).
 
I'm wondering if the government rested their case last week... ??


Monday, May 23rd:
*Motions Hearing (to exclude) (@ 8:30am PT)- CA – *Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (53/now 56) (CFO & President of Theranos) indicted & charged (6/14/18) & arraigned (6/15/18) with 9 counts of wire fraud & 2 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Another count of wire fraud was added in 2020, bringing the total number of felony charges to 12. Plead not guilty. No bond. Faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison & a fine of $2.75 million, plus restitution, & $250K for each individual count of wire fraud & conspiracy. Plead Not guilty.
SEC 5:18-cv-01603 filed 3/14/18 pending; plead not guilty.
Defrauding investors out of $700 million in funding for their blood-testing startup Theranos.
Trial began on 3/22/22. Jury: 12 jurors (6 women & 6 men) & 6 alternates (2 women & 4 men). 3/21/22: Jury #1 sick, alternate moves to jury. 12 jurors (6 women & 6 men) & 5 alternates (2 women & 3 men). Trial Court will be in session on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays (from 9-3), but the jury may be asked to come in on some Mondays & Thursdays as well. Trial dates so far: 5/23-Motions hearing only, 5/27, 6/7, 6/8, 6/10, 6/14, 6/15, 6/17, 6/21, 6/22, 6/24, 6/28, 6/29, 7/1/22.

Indictment & court info from 4/11/20 thru 3/8/22 & Jury selection (Day 1-4) 3/9/22 to 3/15/22 & 3/16 to 3/21/22 & Trial Days 1-2 (3/22 to 3/23/22) & hearing on 3/29/22 & 4/12/22 & Trial Days 3-14 (3/30 to 4/29/22) & 5/3/22 & Trial Days 15-18 (5/4 & 5/13/22) & 5/17 & 5/19/22 (no jurors) reference post #182 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...56-theranos-wire-fraud-charges.614821/page-10

5/20/22 Friday, Trial Day 20: Government witnesses: No info available.
Motions hearing (to exclude) on 5/23/22 @ 8:30am. Trial continues on Friday, 5/27/22.

*Elizabeth A. Holmes (34/now 37) (CEO of Theranos) – Trial began on 9/8/21 & ended 1/3/22 with a verdict of guilty on 4 counts of 11. Next sentencing hearing on 9/26/22.
 
Ah Ha!! I just found this article. The government DID rest their case. Will update my notes...


May 20, 2022
Prosecutors on Friday rested their case against Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani—the top deputy and confidant to Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes—as the government seeks another fraud conviction against the leaders of the defunct blood-testing startup.


and that is all I can read as you need to subscribe....
 

Confirmation about the June 7 postponement. No reason for the postponement was provided.
 

Confirmation about the June 7 postponement. No reason for the postponement was provided.

I know that there have been a few motions hearings held in the last week or so. One I remember is motion to exclude - so maybe waiting for the Judge's decision. And looks like another motion hearing on 6/6 - see next post.
 
Trial dates so far.

Monday, Jun 6 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh Sunny Balwani (NC)
Motion in Limine

Tuesday, Jun 7 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Wednesday, Jun 8 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Friday, Jun 10 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Tuesday, Jun 14 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Wednesday, Jun 15 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Friday, Jun 17 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Tuesday, Jun 21 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Wednesday, Jun 22 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Friday, Jun 24 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Tuesday, Jun 28 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Wednesday, Jun 29 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Friday, Jul 1 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Tuesday, Jul 5 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Wednesday, Jul 6 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Friday, Jul 8 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

link: CALENDAR
 
Monday, June 6th:
*Motions Hearing (@ 9am PT) - CA – *Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (53/now 56) (CFO & President of Theranos) indicted & charged (6/14/18) & arraigned (6/15/18) with 9 counts of wire fraud & 2 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Another count of wire fraud was added in 2020, bringing the total number of felony charges to 12. Plead not guilty. No bond. Faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison & a fine of $2.75 million, plus restitution, & $250K for each individual count of wire fraud & conspiracy. Plead not guilty.
SEC 5:18-cv-01603 filed 3/14/18 pending; plead not guilty.
Defrauding investors out of $700 million in funding for their blood-testing startup Theranos.
Trial began on 3/22/22. Jury: 12 jurors (6 women & 6 men) & 6 alternates (2 women & 4 men). 3/21/22: Jury #1 sick, alternate moves to jury. 12 jurors (6 women & 6 men) & 5 alternates (2 women & 3 men). Trial Court will be in session on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays (from 9-3), but the jury may be asked to come in on some Mondays & Thursdays as well. Trial dates so far: 6/6-Motions hearing, 6/7, 6/8, 6/10, 6/14, 6/15, 6/17, 6/21, 6/22, 6/24, 6/28, 6/29, 7/1, 7/5, 7/6, 7/8/22. all @ 9am The Government rested their case on 5/20/22.

Indictment & court info from 4/11/20 thru 3/8/22 & Jury selection (Day 1-4) 3/9/22 to 3/15/22 & 3/16 to 3/21/22 & Trial Days 1-2 (3/22 to 3/23/22) & hearing on 3/29/22 & 4/12/22 & Trial Days 3-14 (3/30 to 4/29/22) & 5/3/22 & Trial Days 15-20 (5/4 & 5/20/22) & 5/17, 5/19 & 5/23/22 (no jurors) reference post #184 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...56-theranos-wire-fraud-charges.614821/page-10

5/23/22 Monday: Motion to exclude. No info available. Trial date of 5/27/22 was cancelled & a motion in limine & motion for miscellaneous relief hearing on 6/6/22 & trial continues on Tuesday (Day 21), 6/7/22 with defense presented their case.
*Elizabeth A. Holmes (34/now 37) (CEO of Theranos) – Trial began on 9/8/21 & ended 1/3/22 with a verdict of guilty on 4 counts of 11. Sentencing hearing on 9/26/22. Filed (5/27/22) for dismissal of all charges. Next motions hearing on 7/21/22.
 
Tweets for Monday, June 6th:

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki
I'm in San Jose for an evidentiary hearing this morning in Sunny Balwani's criminal fraud trial, which is supposed to resume tomorrow after over a week of a delay. Judge Davila is on the bench and says another juror got COVID. They're going to excuse him. Only 2 alternates left!

Prosecutor Robert Leach just mentioned that Elizabeth Holmes "will not be testifying in this case." So that's off the table. Too bad! Would've been a racket.

I've been asking attorneys and prosecutors for months if Holmes would testify in Balwani's trial & got crickets from all sides. For a prosecutor to just casually mention that she's not going to testify in the middle of an evidentiary hearing makes it that much more anticlimactic.

Sunny Balwani's counsel says they only plan to call two witnesses tomorrow before resting (!). Balwani currently doesn't plan on testifying in his defense, his attorney says. Prosecutor Jeff Schenk says he doesn't know if the gov't plans to call rebuttal witnesses yet.

If the gov't doesn't call rebuttal witnesses, the case could go to the jury as soon as the end of the week, but it definitely won't, because the judge has once again drawn out the charging conference and there'll be some trial delay for that.

FYI - Balwani's trial was scheduled to resume tomorrow, but I just learned trial has been continued to Thursday.


link: https://twitter.com/doratki
 
Looks like NO TRIAL today - 6/7/22 per court site. I'm guessing the defense isn't ready yet to present their case...

Here's the updates from the court site:


Friday, Jun 10 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Tuesday, Jun 14 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Wednesday, Jun 15 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Friday, Jun 17 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Tuesday, Jun 21 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Wednesday, Jun 22 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Friday, Jun 24 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Tuesday, Jun 28 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Wednesday, Jun 29 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Friday, Jul 1 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Tuesday, Jul 5 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Wednesday, Jul 6 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

Friday, Jul 8 2022
09:00AM
5:18-cr-00258-EJD-2 - USA v. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani
Jury Trial

link: CALENDAR
 
Thanks so much for keeping us all updated with the court info and tweets @Niner -- Really appreciate it. I've been really slack in this thread of late but I kinda got peed off with checking in and not finding any tweets from DA to share so went walkabouts and found myself following Johnny Depp vs Amber Heards defamation trial/thread. Found it all really fascinating ;):eek: One bumpy ride for sure ha lol. Anyway, I'll check back here on Thursday. Thanks again. :D
 
Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

5h

Good morning from San Jose! I'm here for what may be the last day of witness testimony (!) in Sunny Balwani's criminal fraud trial. Judge Ed Davila is on the bench and the attorneys are discussing some evidentiary issues before bringing in the jury.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

4h


Balwani's defense team was planning on calling an Orrick paralegal to admit certain doc (the Holmes' defense did this in her trial too) but they now don't want to call him b/c the judge admitted the docs. Prosecutor Robert Leach objects b/c he wants to cross examine the paralegal

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

4h

Balwani's counsel says the paralegal doesn't know anything about the docs, but Leach says he's "leery" of dumping them on the jury "out of context" w/o the gov't's ability to cross the paralegal. (The gov't's cross of the paralegal in Holmes' trial was borderline absurd tbf.)

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

4h

Balwani's counsel plans to call one expert witness to testify on the missing LIS database this morning, admit the docs, and then rest the defense case. The judge says he wants to review the docs before deciding whether they can be admitted w/o calling the paralegal.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

4h

The attorneys are now arguing over Balwani's motion to admit internal DOJ emails about the LIS database. The judge points out that the defense filed the motion late last night, which puts him at a disadvantage.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

4h

The judge says he has "great concerns" after reading the defense expert witness' declaration, which opines on facts that he isn't qualified to discuss. But the defense atty says his q's will be narrow. The judge admits the DOJ emails for notice, but not the truth of the matter.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

4h

The judge says he's going to excuse juror no. 5 due to "health concerns" and replace him with an alternate. Only one alternate left!

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

4h

The jury is in the jury box, and Balwani's counsel called the defense's second, and likely final, witness: Richard L. Sonnier III. He's an expert witness to testify on the notorious missing Theranos LIS database. Here's more on that from my prior coverage:



Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

4h

Oh yeah, correction, I see there are 2 alternates left. The guy who watched an Elizabeth Holmes-inspired Law & Order episode w/ his wife is still on the jury, as is the engineer who seemed distressed when he was selected as an alternate.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

4h

Sonnier is on the stand, testifying about his experience in recovering encrypted databases. About 5 minutes into his testimony, a juror had a coughing fit, and we're taking a brief recess to let her recover. (This trial is never gonna end.)

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

3h

BTW I covered another hearing in the NorCal federal courts the other day and another judge said the district is in "the worst emergency of our entire circuit" due to judicial shortages. Each judge has an avg of 817 cases and criminal cases are "exploding."



Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

3h

Judge Ed Davila has presided over Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani's criminal fraud trials for the past 10 months, and these trials are only in one case - not two. So that means ~816 other cases on the judge's docket have been going nowhere fast this past year.
 
Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

3h

The jury is back and Sonnier is on the stand. He says he's getting paid $300 an hour to testify (which is actually pretty low compared to what many experts charge). Judge Davila admits him as an expert in data encryption and data recovery.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

3h

Sonnier's testimony is pretty technical. He's currently explaining images of a Dell server, a data storage device and a data server rack. Even knowing what I know about the parties' Theranos LIS database dispute (which is way too much tbh), this explainer seems unnecessary.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

3h

Sonnier says in Aug 2018, before Theranos servers were disassembled, Theranos gave prosecutors USB drives w/ copies of LIS database. But the drives were encrypted, and 2 years later prosecutors realized that the data on the drives were also encrypted and couldn't be decrypted.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

3h

Defense counsel asked Sonnier if he faults the gov't for not being able to decrypt the USB drives w/ Theranos LIS database. He says no, "This sort of thing happens periodically in the industry."

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

3h

After the judge sustained multiple objections to various q's, the defense passed the witness. On direct, Sonnier testified that there isn't a way to access/unlock the Theranos database.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

3h

Prosecutor John Bostic asks Sonnier if Sonnier thinks his opinion is helpful to the defense's case. "I’m not actually sure if it’s helpful or not," Sonnier. From the filings, I would assume that they are making the arguments, because it's helpful, he says.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

2h

Proseuctor points out that the gov't's subpoena to Theranos in April 2018 said that "any person who withholds, alters, deletes, or destroys documents -- including electronic documents … could be subject to criminal prosecution."

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

2h

Prosecutor is trying to pick apart Sonnier's testimony that the gov't could have tried to put back together Theranos' original disassembled server to recover the database. Sonnier admits he doesn't know where the hardware is stored & he doesn't have 'first-hand' experience w/ it.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

2h

Sonnier's cross is taking much longer than direct. Trial's taking a 20 min break. Brb.
 
Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

1h

We're back, and prosecutor John Bostic points to an email exchange between WilmerHale attorneys and Theranos employees in Aug 2018 about the database provided to prosecutors. ICYMI, my pretrial coverage on those emails:



Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

1h

Bostic shows Sonnier an email Theranos CEO David Taylor sent in Aug 2018 to WilmerHale attorneys asking them to "hash out" what they need from LIS to give to the DOJ, "given that the system will be put into storage this Friday and may thereafter be very difficult to resuscitate."

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

1h

Bostic also shows another email from the Theranos assignee who wrote prosecutors in March 2019 that Sunny Balwani and another individual encrypted the now-permanently locked Theranos LIS database.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

58m

The attorneys have been asking the witness a series of q’s that cover a lot of the same ground. The witness thinks the govt could have reassembled the theranos database, despite various statements by the assignee and govt officials that it would be difficult if not impossible.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

57m

The parties finished examining Balwani’s second and likely last witness. Balwani’s counsel asks to admit a bunch of exhibits into the record before resting. The judge is going through them one by one.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

54m

One juror looks like he’s nodding off. I feel ya bro.

Dorothy Atkins
@doratki

33m

BALWANI RESTS. No Holmes testimony. Trial is breaking for the day.
 

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