Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes reveals sex abuse allegations during fraud trial

Elizabeth Holmes – once America’s youngest female billionaire – has revealed disturbing sex abuse allegations during her explosive fraud trial.

Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has accused her former lover and business partner of sexual abuse during her explosive fraud trial.

The 37-year-old Stanford University dropout launched the “revolutionary” biotech company Theranos in 2003 when she was just 19, and by 2015 she was being celebrated as the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaire in America.

At that time, Theranos was valued at almost $A14 billion, and Ms Holmes had amassed a staggering personal fortune of more than $A6 billion.

Elizabeth Holmes is facing charges of conspiracy and wire fraud for allegedly engaging in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors. Picture: Ethan Swope/Getty Images/AFP

But that year, everything started to fall apart, after Wall Street Journal investigative reporter John Carreyrou revealed the company’s stunning success was built on a lie after questioning the validity of the company’s supposedly groundbreaking technology.

Now, Ms Holmes is facing 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, with each carrying a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

She has pleaded not guilty, and her fraud trial is now underway in California.

Explosive allegations

This week, Ms Holmes’ trial took an emotional turn when she accused ex-boyfriend and former business partner Sunny Balwani – who will be trialled separately in January – of abuse.

Ms Holmes and Mr Balwani, 56, lived together from 2005 to 2016, and Mr Balwani served as Theranos’ president before he exited the company.

Ms Holmes’ lawyers argued she was heavily influenced by Mr Balwani during the course of their long relationship, and on Monday she at times appeared to be on the verge of tears as she made a string of allegations against him, including that he controlled her food intake to keep her “pure”.

“He would get very angry with me and then he would sometimes come upstairs to our bedroom and he would force me to have sex with him when I didn’t want to,” Ms Holmes said, according to the Financial Times.

Lawyers for former Theranos COO Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani have denied the abuse allegations. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP

Mr Balwani’s lawyers have denied the abuse allegations.

She also claimed to have been raped by an unknown attacker while a student at Stanford, which influenced her decision to drop out.

Meanwhile, the now-married mother-of-one also told the court she could not remember details prosecutors alleged Theranos used to keep whistleblowers quiet, and denied the company tried to intimidate Mr Carreyrou during his investigations into the firm.

She has also admitted to personally adding the logos of pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, to documents sent to business contacts and investors without the firms’ permission.

The prosecution has claimed this act violated contracts with the companies in question.

During the trial, the court has also been shown messages between the former couple, in which Mr Balwani outlines concerns with Theranos and advice on how to fix them.

Ms Holmes has also denied retaliation against “disgruntled” former employees who became valuable sources for The Wall Street Journal investigation into Theranos.

“I think I mishandled the entire process of The Wall Street Journal reporting,” Ms Holmes told the court.

Theranos’ fall from grace

Theranos was a seemingly groundbreaking biotech company founded by a then 19-year-old Ms Holmes in 2003.

It rapidly rose to fame due to claims it had developed blood tests that only needed small amounts of blood.

At its peak in 2013-14, the company was valued at nearly $US10 billion ($A14 billion), and the young entrepreneur had a personal net worth of $US4.5 billion ($A6.3 billion).

But when Wall Street Journal investigative reporter John Carreyrou started investigating Theranos in 2015, he helped uncover the company’s many false claims.

Elizabeth Holmes, pictured with husband Billy Evans. Picture: Twitter

In 2016, Forbes revised Ms Holmes’ fortune down to $0 as she faced mounting allegations of potential fraud.

In September 2018, Theranos was shut down for good, and today, its founder is facing a possible decades-long prison sentence.