Convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes says she won’t be able to make $250 a month restitution payments after she is released from prison, citing limited financial resources.
Holmes, the founder and CEO of failed blood-testing company Theranos, is currently being held in a minimum-security prison in Texas after being sentenced in November to 11 years in prison. She and former boyfriend and Theranos President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani were also ordered to pay more than $452 million in restitution.
On Monday, prosecutors proposed that Holmes pay $250 a month toward her share of the restitution after she is released from prison, Bloomberg reported. Holmes’ attorneys argued that the payment plan was due to a clerical error, but prosecutors denied this claim.
Holmes’ attorneys said the judge in this case considered “substantial evidence showing Ms. Holmes’ limited financial resources and has appropriately treated Ms. Holmes and Mr. Balwani differently in sentencing.”
Holmes told The New York Times last month that she was struggling to pay her legal bills, saying, “I have to work for the rest of my life to try to pay for it.”
It is unlikely those harmed by Holmes’ actions will ever receive their full restitution. Daniel Richman, a professor at Columbia Law School and a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan, told Insider that “generally, most restitution is never paid.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP
While preparing for trial, Holmes and her partner, hotel heir Billy Evans, traveled the country and lived in an RV. They even went to Burning Man, where general admission tickets cost at least $500, with another $100+ for vehicle passes.
During her trial and while she was appealing her conviction, Holmes reportedly lived on the grounds of a $13,000-per-month estate, federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing, according to the New York Post. The $135 million mansion sat on 74 acres in Woodside, California.
Evans, Holmes’ partner and the father of her two children, is the heir to the Evans Hotel Group, with a net worth estimated to be around $10 million.
Holmes reported to prison on May 30 to begin her sentence. She was found guilty in January 2022 on four out of 11 charges of fraud relating to her failed blood-testing startup.
Holmes claimed her company could provide rapid blood tests using a much smaller amount of blood than conventional tests. Holmes also tried to accuse Balwani of abuse. Text messages between the two, however, showed a loving relationship, although Balwani had a reputation for treating employees poorly.