SAN JOSE, Calif. - Opening statements began Tuesday in the federal fraud trial of former Theranos Chief Operating Officer and ex-boyfriend of the company's founder, Elizabeth Holmes.
Sunny Balwani faces 10 counts of fraud and two counts of conspiracy related to his role in the failed blood-testing company.
Holmes faced the same charges and was convicted in January of three counts of fraud and one count of conspiracy. Her sentencing is scheduled for September after Balwani's trial is complete.
While Holmes was the public face of the company that falsely claimed its technology could run a complex array of tests with only a drop of blood, Balwani managed many of the company's day-to-day operations.
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Opening statements in trial of Elizabeth Holmes' ex-boyfriend, Theranos COO Sunny Balwani
Opening statements began Tuesday in the federal fraud trial of Theranos Chief Operating Officer Sunny Balwani. He's the former boyfriend of Elizabeth Holmes, who was convicted of four felonies earlier this year.
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He oversaw the testing lab and prosecutors say he was instrumental in the decision to secretly use modified third-party analyzers after the company's so-called Edison analyzers proved to be plagued with problems.
The ex-lovers were indicted together, but their trials were separated after Holmes' defense team accused Balwani of abusing her and controlling her decisions at the company.
Balwani's attorney's have denied he abused Holmes.
His trial was set to begin in February but was pushed back as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus surged.
Opening statements were again delayed last week when Judge Edward Davila said a juror was exposed to someone with the virus.
Evan Sernoffsky is an investigative reporter for KTVU. Email Evan at evan.sernoffsky@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @EvanSernoffsky