Elizabeth Holmes Accuses Ex-Boyfriend & Theranos President Sunny Balwani Of Forced Sex, Abuse
Elizabeth Holmes broke down on the stand yesterday as she testified to the court about how she was allegedly abused and forced to have sex with her ex-boyfriend, co-defendant, and former Theranos president Sunny Balwani.
According to The New York Post, Holmes broke down in tears when telling the court about how she was allegedly raped while still a student attending Stanford University. She testified that this incident forced her to drop out of school and dedicate herself full-time to building the company that would ultimately become Theranos.
Holmes also testified that when she started dating Balwani he said he would protect her and keep her safe, but things quickly changed.
Rather than keep her safe, Holmes testified that Balwani started abusing her and attempted to control not only aspects of the Theranos business, in which he was the chief operating officer and president, but even aspects of her own personal life.
“He told me that I didn’t know what I was doing in business, that my convictions were wrong, that he was astonished at my mediocrity and if I followed my instincts I was going to fail,” the 37-year-old former businesswoman told the court.
“Who I was was never going to be a person who would succeed in life or in business, so I needed to kill that person and become a new Elizabeth,” she also added when describing Balwani’s abuse.
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But the abuse Holmes allegedly suffered from Balwani was not only verbal, but also physical.
According to her testimony yesterday, she claimed that Balwani raped her on numerous occasions when she didn’t feel like having sex.
“He would force me to have sex with him when I didn’t want to because he would say that he wanted me to know he still loved me,” Holmes said, breaking down in tears once again.
Holmes’ testimony yesterday comes in the midst of her trial in which she is facing two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud after allegedly lying to investors about Theranos’ potential as a company.
She is also accused of lying about Theranos’ healthcare technology to manipulate investors.
The trial is scheduled to end on December 17. If found guilty of all 11 counts, Holmes could potentially face up to 20 years in prison.
