Federal prosecutors on Tuesday depicted former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny"" Balwani as an instrumental accomplice in a fraud hatched by his secret lover, former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes. In turn, his lawyers depicted him as a loyal soldier who tried to save the blood-testing company.
"Mr. Balwani is not a victim, he is the perpetrator of the fraud," prosecutor Jeffrey Schenk said near the end of his 3 1/2-hour closing argument before a jury in a San Jose, California, courtroom.
Jeffrey Coopersmith, one of the lawyers representing Balwani, painted Balwani as tireless executive who "put his money where his mouth is" by putting up about $15 million of his own fortune into Theranos between 2009 and 2011 because he believed in Holmes' vision.
In addition to his financial involvement in Theranos, Balwani joined the Palo Alto, California, company as chief operating officer in 2010 while clandestinely living with Holmes.
"Mr. Balwani put his heart and soul into Theranos," Coopersmith said as he began his closing argument. Later, Coopersmith pointed out that Balwani was such an ardent supporter of Holmes and Theranos that he never sold his stake in the company, even though at one point it was worth $500 million. It became worthless when the company collapsed.
The dueling presentations were among the finishing touches on a three-month-old trial that will determine whether Balwani will wind up in the same predicament as Holmes, who was convicted of defrauding Theranos investors in a separate trial that concluded earlier this year.
Coopersmith will continue his closing defense of Balwani on Wednesday and then prosecutors will have a chance to present a rebuttal before U.S. District Judge Edward Davila reads the final instructions sending the jury into its deliberations. The jury in Holmes' trial spent seven days in deliberations before convicting Holmes on four counts of investor fraud.
Holmes, 38, now faces up to 20 years in prison. It is a stunning reversal from the way she was once hailed in Silicon Valley as a technological visionary developing a revolutionary blood-testing technology -- one who was worth an estimated $4.5 billion at one point in 2014..
Balwani, 57, is accused of the same Theranos investors as Holmes did from 2010 to 2015, as well as duping patients who entrusted the analysis of their health to a blood-testing technology that didn't work the way the company had promised from 2013 to 2015. Holmes was acquitted of the charges accusing her of defrauding patients who had their blood tested by Theranos.
Holmes and Balwani began dating around the same time she dropped out of Stanford University at the age of 19 to start Theranos, which later claimed to have discovered a way to test for more than 200 potential health problems with just a few drops of blood. They broke up in 2016 as Theranos collapsed amid revelations of serious flaws in its technology.
In a slide spelling out the criminal charges, the prosecution included a picture of Balwani alongside Holmes with the contents of a July 2015 text he sent to her. "I am responsible for everything at Theranos," Balwani wrote to Holmes. "All have been my decisions too."
Schenk also emphasized Balwani's responsibility for overseeing Theranos' blood-testing laboratory as part of an attempt to prove he endangered patients. In a 2014 text to Holmes, Balwani described the Theranos lab as a "disaster zone" that included a profane description because there were so many problems there.
An image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023 has been obtained by CTVNews.ca.
MPs debated the first non-confidence motion of the fall House of Commons sitting today, seeing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre push once again for a snap election. But with votes secured to keep them afloat, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals were quick to turn the discussion into a referendum on the Conservative alternative.
A city councillor in British Columbia says an online mob of "extremists" and "politically motivated hackers" is responsible for uncovering and publicizing a photo of him wearing a blackface costume to a Halloween party in 2007.
The federal government has 'no intention' of pausing the next planned increase to the carbon price, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault confirms.
After Ontario Premier Doug Ford made controversial comments about solutions to get people out of homeless encampments, advocates and members of the opposition spoke up on Tuesday.
Four puppies were found near County Road 21 in Essa Township after a passerby spotted one when it ran out of the ditch and onto the road.
We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.
A Missouri man convicted of breaking into a woman’s home and repeatedly stabbing her was executed Tuesday over the objections of the victim’s family and the prosecutor, who wanted the death sentence commuted to life in prison.
An advocate organization is calling for an inquiry following the death of a six-year-old boy who went missing in Shamattawa First Nation.
An advocate organization is calling for an inquiry following the death of a six-year-old boy who went missing in Shamattawa First Nation.
The smoke over the Port of Montreal has dissipated, but the fire in a container filled with 15,000 kilograms of lithium batteries prompted firefighters to issue a warning about how common these incidents have become.
A team at the University of Waterloo are developing a process to 3D-print bones, which could dramatically improve the quality of life for cancer and trauma patients.
More Canadians are installing solar panels on their homes, but some are facing challenges when it comes to getting home insurance after the panels are put in.
Four puppies were found near County Road 21 in Essa Township after a passerby spotted one when it ran out of the ditch and onto the road.
After Ontario Premier Doug Ford made controversial comments about solutions to get people out of homeless encampments, advocates and members of the opposition spoke up on Tuesday.
A Missouri man convicted of breaking into a woman’s home and repeatedly stabbing her was executed Tuesday over the objections of the victim’s family and the prosecutor, who wanted the death sentence commuted to life in prison.
Kg rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and its ally Hamas, a fellow Iran-backed militant group. Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.
Iran’s new president signaled to world leaders Tuesday that he wants to open a 'constructive' chapter in his country’s international relations — but he made clear that everyone else, including the United States, needs to do their part.
A man who authorities say staked out Donald Trump for 12 hours on his golf course in Florida and wrote of his desire to kill him was indicted Tuesday on an attempted assassination charge.
Special counsel Jack Smith this week will be allowed to file hundreds of pages of legal arguments and evidence gathered in the 2020 election subversion and Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack criminal case against former president Donald Trump, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
A federal judge sentenced FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s former girlfriend to two years in prison, citing her extensive cooperation with prosecutors that led to the conviction of the former face of the cryptocurrency industry in one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history.
The federal government has 'no intention' of pausing the next planned increase to the carbon price, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault confirms.
U.S. President Joe Biden reflected on the motivation behind his decision to step away from politics and sent a message of unity to global leaders gathered at a time of increasing division and geopolitical instability.
MPs debated the first non-confidence motion of the fall House of Commons sitting today, seeing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre push once again for a snap election. But with votes secured to keep them afloat, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals were quick to turn the discussion into a referendum on the Conservative alternative.
The federal Liberals are creating a new agency to beef up Canada's ability to handle rapidly spreading infectious diseases and protect from future pandemics.
A team at the University of Waterloo are developing a process to 3D-print bones, which could dramatically improve the quality of life for cancer and trauma patients.
The province has announced a new plan to lower the age for mammogram self-referrals to 40 from 50 in an effort to get more Manitobans screened for breast cancer.
The smoke over the Port of Montreal has dissipated, but the fire in a container filled with 15,000 kilograms of lithium batteries prompted firefighters to issue a warning about how common these incidents have become.
Questions are being raised over the use of body cameras in stores as a way to combat crime.
Scientists have discovered a new species of ghost shark that lives in deep ocean waters near Australia and New Zealand.
The Crown's key witness in the sexual assault trial against former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard will take the stand in a northern Ontario courtroom Tuesday afternoon following the judge's instructions to the jury.
Canadian rapper Drake and rockers Arkells are among the top musical talent set to be toasted at the SOCAN Awards tonight.
Another woman sued Sean 'Diddy' Combs on Tuesday, alleging that the music mogul and his head of security raped her and recorded it on video at his New York recording studio in 2001.
Given the continued progress the Bank of Canada has made in bringing inflation back down to the 2 per cent target, it is reasonable to expect more rate cuts, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Tuesday.
Some Royal Bank of Canada employees who joined when the bank acquired HSBC Canada worry they could lose their jobs when RBC's six-month guarantee to keep them expires this month, according to six sources familiar with the situation.
Metro Vancouver grain terminal workers are now on strike, bringing tens of millions of dollars of exports to a standstill.
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An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.
The Newcomers Football Club, an impromptu team made up of asylum-seekers, has helped provide Boubacar Lukaku and others with a joy that erases their stress. And it's helped connect them with a supportive community as they navigate the challenges of a new country.
Watching Connor McDavid screaming in a locker room is something hockey fans didn't necessarily expect.
Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre revealed Tuesday at a hearing on federal welfare reform that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
American gymnast Jordan Chiles’s legal team has submitted a new application in the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland over the decision that led to her losing an Olympic bronze medal, pointing toward new video evidence that Chiles’s lawyers say proves her case.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) reported this week that officers in the agency's Montreal Marine and Rail Services seized 78 vehicles and transferred them to police. Numbers of stolen vehicles in Quebec continue to skyrocket.
Struggling Jeep and Ram maker Stellantis is looking for a CEO to succeed Carlos Tavares, but the company says it's just part of a normal leadership succession plan.
The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday will propose a ban on the sale or import of smart vehicles that use specific Chinese or Russian technology because of national security concerns, according to U.S. officials.
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.
Fire has destroyed a barn and 17,000 plants at a family-owned business in Lower Coverdale, N.B.
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A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.
A Nova Scotian YouTuber has launched a mini-truck bookmobile.
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
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An 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in a caught-on-video incident in Mississauga earlier this month is now facing auto theft charges in Toronto.
A woman fatally struck in a collision in The Junction neighbourhood on Monday evening is being remembered as a 'wonderful and beautiful person' who was a beloved member of Toronto's jazz community.
Ontario's ministry of education is now officially investigating a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) field trip at an Indigenous rights rally students participated in, where pro-Palestinian slogans were later chanted.
Alberta's premier wants to reinforce the ability to choose whether to receive a vaccination or other medical procedures through changes to the province's Bill of Rights.
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A Calgary man is facing child pornography charges after an investigation uncovered years of messages exchanged with an alleged felon.
Ottawa police say two people under the age of 18 have been arrested following an incident that prompted a lockdown at Glebe Collegiate Institute around the noon hour Tuesday.
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The heat is rising for Quebec Premier François Legault as opposition parties demand answers about his government's investment in the planned Northvolt battery factory near Montreal.
Quebec's language watchdog received a record number of complaints from citizens last year and carried out an increasing number of inspections on employers.
Quebec's minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit says northern communities can't opt out of paying their electricity bills.
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An online tool now available to local drivers allows them to begin their fender-bender report from their desktop or their mobile device.
As temperatures cool down, the Halifax Regional Municipality is serving eviction notices to residents at one of the city’s larger tent encampments.
Antigonish County District RCMP is trying to track down a man wanted on a provincewide arrest warrant for sexual assault in Nova Scotia.
The Saint John Police Force is asking for the public’s help in locating Eric Martin, 48, who is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant.
An advocate organization is calling for an inquiry following the death of a six-year-old boy who went missing in Shamattawa First Nation.
An MLA recently kicked out of the NDP caucus says he is setting the record straight about a controversial handshake between PC MLA Obby Khan and Premier Wab Kinew.
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Saskatchewan RCMP remain at the scene of a "police incident" on Fishing Lake First Nation after it announced officers were in the area searching for a suspect wanted in a long list of armed robberies.
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To honour the 150th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 4, the City of Regina unveiled two medals at City Hall.
A reward of up to $50K has been issued by Waterloo Regional Police for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Joshua Bennett.
Back in July, a plot of land had an immature crop of corn destroyed. It was an action that outraged local farmers. Now, a new report into the matter has been released and will be presented to regional council Wednesday.
A replacement plaque has been installed at a memorial for a Cambridge boy and a Waterloo Regional Police officer who drowned in 1998.
The Government of Saskatchewan says a private Christian school, embroiled in abuse allegations, has proved it's met education ministry rules by formally disconnecting from an affiliated church. But, by some indications, connections remain.
A new program is expanding the capacity of breast cancer screening services across Saskatchewan, and a fundraising campaign is underway to get it done. This all comes as age requirement have been lowered for mammogram screening starting in the new year.
A man and woman in Saskatoon who had two kilograms of methamphetamine seized from a home are going back to trial after having their acquittals overturned.
We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.
An image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023 has been obtained by CTVNews.ca.
A 49-year-old Sudbury woman who was killed in a tragic collision with a police boat June 7 on Nepewassi Lake was told to remain in a residence on an island until police returned to pick her up.
The calls are growing louder for city council to tighten the rules governing short-term accommodations, including those advertised on websites like Airbnb and Vrbo, after students arrived by the busload at a rented house in the Masonville neighbourhood.
“I was going to make breakfast, and I put the frying pan on the stove and opened it and remembered I needed something from No Frills,†said Frank Wall, who lives just north of Aylmer, Ont.
Protesting for more than an hour in a pouring rain, members of tenants’ advocacy group London ACORN called on city council to strengthen a draft licensing by-law meant to discourage so-called ‘renovictions’.
Three construction workers are being praised for their actions that police in Barrie say likely prevented an armed man from fleeing before being taken into custody.
Four puppies were found near County Road 21 in Essa Township after a passerby spotted one when it ran out of the ditch and onto the road.
An Uber driver was handed a 12-month driving ban on Tuesday following a collision that injured a pedestrian and killed a labrador retriever in Barrie.
A person from Windsor has died in a collision on Highway 59 in Oxford County.
A road in Essex County has reopened following a multi-vehicle crash. According to OPP, County Road 20 had been closed between Iler road and McCormick Road in Harrow.
Amherstburg town council has given the go-ahead for restoration proposals for the Belle Vue National Historic Site.
A city councillor in British Columbia says an online mob of "extremists" and "politically motivated hackers" is responsible for uncovering and publicizing a photo of him wearing a blackface costume to a Halloween party in 2007.
A boater was rescued on Monday evening after spending three hours in the frigid waters off Vancouver Island.
A man and a woman from Nanaimo, B.C., are facing more than two dozen charges after police seized four guns and several hundred grams of illicit drugs following a complaint about drug trafficking in the city's downtown core.
A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.
The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
Dozens of police officers and support workers have come to Lethbridge for the Social Disorder and Urban Crime Conference.
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
To make higher education an easier step to take for Indigenous students, the University of Lethbridge is dropping some fees for those applicants.
A 25-year-old suspect was charged with impaired driving Sept. 21 after police spotted two people without helmets on an ATV on Sand Bay Road in Goulais River.
A federal offender who was last seen in Sudbury is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for allegedly breaching his statutory release conditions.
The Crown's key witness in the sexual assault trial against former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard will take the stand in a northern Ontario courtroom Tuesday afternoon following the judge's instructions to the jury.
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
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