In a harshly worded closing argument, prosecutors said that the company's former COO was the culprit of fraud and that he wasn't a victim.
The closing statements capped a three-month-long trial where the government alleged Balwani acted with his ex-girlfriend and business partner in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors and patients.
The assistant U.S. attorney said that Mr. Balwani had a choice. He could either watch Theranos fail, or watch his girlfriend's business collapse. Mr. Balwani knew that Theranos wouldn't make money and wouldn't make any money by being honest with people.
In his closing argument, Schenk linked Balwani to multiple parts of the business and attacked his credibility.
They came up with two schemes together. Two people plan to steal from these people. They decided to cheat investors and patients of their money. We've been together since March because of those decisions.
Balwani is accused of 10 counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He has denied the charges. The company was in financial trouble when Balwani joined. He provided a loan.
After six months, Balwani took over lab operations. Employees, investors, and business partners were kept in the dark about the romance between the two men.
At one point, Balwani's stake was worth half a billion dollars, according to his lawyers. He had a personal and professional relationship with the man.
The jury was shown a picture of the witnesses on the monitor during the closing argument.
The case against Balwani was very similar to the case againstHolmes, who was found guilty of four counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against investors. A motion has been filed by her attorneys asking the judge to acquit her.
He didn't testify in his own defense. Balwani's attorneys called two witnesses, including an Arizona physician who used Theranos and an information technical consultant who testified about a missing database.
Balwani told investors that Theranos would make $1 billion in revenue by the year 2015.
He knows he tricked Walgreens. It's just a matter of time before that house of cards collapses.
The drugstore chain was one of the key partners for Theranos. The relationship with Walgreens made it easier to recruit investors. Walgreens and the start-up ended their partnership in the year 2016
Balwani is accused of being responsible for the high financial projections that investors used. Balwani would often assure investors that the technology worked.
Why do you think fraud is fatal? The jury was asked to consider the matter. It's the truth.
The defense tried to poke holes in the paper. Jeffrey Coopersmith said that the government decided not to show the whole story because it was not in line with their narrative.
The all-star group of powerful board members and investors were the ones that attractedHolmes.
Coopersmith said that she had to be. The same thing would have happened to Mr. Balwani if those people had seen it. You wonder why he was attracted to the two people.
The jury was told by Coopersmith that Balwani put his heart and soul into Theranos, he worked year after year to make the company a success.
The rebuttal from federal prosecutors will be the last one. The jury is going to start deliberations this week.
Mr. Balwani would like you to think he is a victim. He left money on the table because he didn't exercise his options. He wants you to believe that he wasn't high enough to have meaningful conversations with investors and patients. You know that isn't true.
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