Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on November 18, 2022 in San Jose, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Elizabeth Holmes, founding father of disgraced biotech company Theranos, bought a one-way ticket to Mexico shortly after she was convicted of fraud last January.
Holmes was found guilty of 4 counts of lying to investors on January 3, 2022. Soon after, federal prosecutors allege in a filing that Holmes purchased a flight to Mexico departing January 26, 2022 with no return trip scheduled. The US government became aware of the reservation on January 23, 2022.
“It was only after the federal government raised the unauthorized flight with a lawyer that the trip was cancelled,” prosecutors say.
Thursday’s filing was a part of the federal government’s opposition to Holmes’ request for release pending an appeal against her conviction; in November, the judge sentenced Holmes to greater than 11 years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila ordered Holmes to undergo custody until April 27. It has not yet been determined where she is going to serve her sentence, but Davila has he really helpful a minimum-security POW camp in Texas.
Holmes’ partner, William Evans, also bought a one-way ticket “and only returned about six weeks later, getting back from one other continent,” prosecutors said.
“The government anticipates that (Holmes) will record in response that she didn’t in reality leave the country as planned – but it surely is difficult to know of course what (Holmes) would have done had the federal government not intervened,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also say Holmes has access to vast financial resources.
“(Holmes) has been living in a property for over a yr where monthly expenses exceed $13,000 monthly based on (Holmes’s) monthly money flow statement submitted to the United States Probation Office,” they write.
They further note that the judge stated that Holmes “never fully appreciated it [s]he could be imprisoned” based on “unfounded hopes a court would give”. [her] probation.” Additionally, Holmes didn’t “reveal. . . in [her] words or manner, real acceptance of it [s]stole a substantial amount of cash [investors] by lying and falsifying documents.
Therefore, they strongly oppose any release.
“At the identical time as her motivation to flee has never been greater, (Holmes) asked the court to chill out her travel restrictions, allowing her to travel out of the Northern District of California and possibly out of state altogether” as a consequence of the employment of her significant individuals”.
The United States has maintained bilateral extradition treaties with Mexico dating back to the nineteenth century – perhaps against the assumption that crossing the southern border guarantees freedom. Since 2005, Mexico has deported between 150 and 200 fugitives charged within the US, in response to the US State Department.
One distinguished example is Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski, convicted in 2013 of disability and insurance fraud, was detained in Mexico six months after her Twitter account tweeted, “Catch me should you can.”
The US Marshals Service is the first agency assigned to trace down fugitives. In addition to maintaining an office in Mexico, the USMS works closely with law enforcement along the Mexican and Canadian borders and with the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.
Holmes’ attorney didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
