Theranos Executives Could Face Up to 20 Years in Prison for Fraud

A federal grand jury indicted Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and COO Ramesh Balwani on two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of fraud.

If convicted, the two could face up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution, for each count of wire fraud and for each conspiracy count, the Department of Justice said.

The charges stem from allegations Holmes and Balwani engaged in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors and a separate scheme to defraud doctors and patients. Both schemes involved efforts to promote the Palo Alto, Calif.-based diagnostics firm founded by Holmes in 2003.