Theranos founder and former CEO Elizabeth Holmes tried to “flee” the United States a few weeks after her conviction for fraud last year, prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday.
Holmes was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud last January for misleading investors about the effectiveness of her startup company’s blood-testing technology. She was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison in November.
Holmes has since appealed her conviction and filed a motion to be released from detention at an estate while her appeal plays out. But prosecutors said in a filing opposing her motion that Holmes has not shown “clear and convincing evidence” that she is not a flight risk, in large part because she allegedly planned a flight to Mexico after being convicted.
Prosecutors said in the filing that Holmes’s legal defense has argued that she has a “flawless” pretrial record but does not mention her “attempt to flee.” They said the government learned on Jan. 23, 2022, that Holmes booked a one-way flight to Mexico scheduled for Jan. 26, but a return flight was not scheduled.
The government then mentioned the trip to Holmes’s defense attorney, and the flight was canceled after that, prosecutors said.
They said they expect Holmes will argue in reply to their filing that she did not actually leave the country, but it is difficult to know what would have happened without government intervention. They said the incentive for Holmes to flee the country has never been higher, and she has the resources to do so.
Theranos received widespread publicity and large investments from numerous prominent figures as a result of Holmes’s claims that her technology could test for a wide array of conditions with a simple blood test only requiring one drop of blood.
But prosecutors said she did not inform investors of defects with the technology.
Holmes is due to surrender herself to custody on April 27.
An attorney for Holmes did not immediately return a request from The Hill for comment.