Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Was Found Guilty Of Fraud.

At a trial in California, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was convicted guilty of four counts of fraud.

Prosecutors claimed Holmes lied about her blood-testing company and technology that could diagnose diseases with only a few droplets of blood.

Holmes was convicted guilty of four crimes, including conspiracy to defraud investors and three counts of wire fraud, by a jury.

The 37-year-old faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

Four other accusations against Holmes were dismissed, including deliberately misrepresenting to the public. Three further counts were considered by the jury, but they were unable to make a decision.

The jury could deliver a partial decision after seven days of deliberation, according to the court.

Theranos, which was once valued at $9 billion (£6.5 billion), was once Silicon Valley's darling.

The company claimed to revolutionize healthcare, but it began to fall apart in 2015 after a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that its key blood-testing technology was ineffective. It was closed down for good in 2018.

The jury of eight men and four women was given with two radically different versions of the former self-made billionaire, whose downfall shocked Silicon Valley, for over four months at trial.

The prosecution called more than 30 witnesses to show that Ms Holmes knew the product she was selling to investors was a hoax but was still hell-bent on the company's success.

Multiple lab directors testified at trial that they alerted Holmes about Theranos' technology issues but were advised to suppress their concerns. Simultaneously, they claimed, Holmes told investors that the technology was working as expected.

'Holmes' is a "Choosing fraud over company failure was a wise decision. She made the decision to deceive investors and patients "In closing remarks, prosecutor Jeff Schenk stated, "Not only was that decision insensitive, but it was also criminal."

The defense, on the other hand, countered by describing a focused and motivated businesswoman who was making inroads in a male-dominated field.

"You know that the crooks cash out, thieves cover up, and rats depart a sinking ship at the first hint of danger," defence counsel Kevin Downey said last week. However, Holmes stayed, and she "went down with that ship when it went down," he added.

In her own defense, Holmes admitted that Theranos made mistakes, but insisted that she never willfully deceived patients or investors.