Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes tried to leave the country after she was found guilty of fraud last year, according to prosecutors in her case.
In a new court filing obtained by Rolling Stone, prosecutors allege that they learned on Jan. 23, several weeks after she was convicted, that the scammer “booked an international flight to Mexico… without a scheduled return trip.”
“Only after the government raised this unauthorized flight with defense counsel was the trip canceled,” read the filing. “The government anticipates Defendant will note in reply that she did not in fact leave the country as scheduled—but it is difficult to know with certainty what Defendant would have done had the government not intervened.”
At the time, Holmes’ attorney Lance Wade stated that the flight was planned prior to the verdict so that she could “attend the wedding of close friends” in case there was a different outcome. “Given the verdict, she does not plan to take the trip,” read the statement. “But she also had not yet cancelled the trip, amidst everything that has been going on.”
During that time, however, prosecutors allege that Holmes’ partner, hotel heir Billy Evans, left the country the same day as her planned trip and “did not return until approximately six weeks later,” though it’s unclear where he was located.
“Defendant has shown no remorse to the victims of her fraud, despite an associated loss that the Court found was at least $120 million,” the filing read.
In November, a judge sentenced Holmes to 11 years and three months in prison, plus three years of supervised release. Judge Edward J. Davila of California’s Northern District said he believed it was Holmes’ hubris and intoxication with fame that led her to defraud investors of more than $100 million. The founder of the failed blood-testing start-up Theranos promised to revolutionize healthcare, but a jury found she lied to investors about the company’s capabilities in pursuit of money and fame. Her case has come to represent the dark side of Silicon Valley’s hustle culture and “fake it till you make it” ethos.
Since being found guilty in January of lying to investors to raise money for her blood-testing startup, Holmes spent much of the intervening time pushing for a new trial, then begging not to have to go to jail. Amid failed requests for new trials, her sentencing got rescheduled twice.
Holmes is now expected to report to prison on April 27, 2023. In the latest court documents, prosecutors also alleged that the estate Holmes is currently living on costs more than $13,000 to maintain each month and has continued to push to have her travel restrictions relaxed.
“There are not two systems of justice — one for the wealthy and one for the poor — there is one criminal justice system in this country,” the prosecutors wrote in the filing.