(Bloomberg) -- Prosecutors laid out their case against former Theranos Inc. President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani at the start of his criminal trial, two and a half months after a jury convicted his alleged co-conspirator Elizabeth Holmes of defrauding investors.
In the federal courthouse in San Jose, California, where Holmes's trial was held, lawyers for the U.S. on Tuesday asked jurors to find Balwani guilty of the same charges that the founder of the blood-testing startup faced. Balwani's lawyers are expected to deliver their opening arguments later.
Balwani and Holmes had a romantic relationship they kept secret as the two lived and worked together -- and a falling out in 2016, two years before Theranos shut down. Just as Holmes attempted to blame Balwani for the fraud that caused the collapse of the company once valued at $9 billion, criminal defense lawyers expect he will point the finger at her.
Holmes was convicted of four out of 11 counts of conspiracy and wire fraud and acquitted of four counts she deceived patients, while her jury was unable to reach a unanimous consensus on three other counts.
Legal experts have said Holmes faces a decade or more in prison, though her term may depend on what prosecutors unearth about how culpable Balwani was.
Read More: Elizabeth Holmes's Ex May Hold Her Ticket to Less Prison Time
While Holmes's fall from her status as celebrity chief executive to convicted felon marked one of the most dramatic descents in Silicon Valley history, Balwani remains a far less well-known figure. New details about Balwani's role may surface as prosecutors seek to highlight his involvement at the company.
Deep problems at Theranos were revealed in 2015 by then-Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou, and the company's downfall has been chronicled in books, podcasts and most recently in a docu-drama series titled “The Dropout” that started airing this month.
Prosecutors claim Balwani lied to investors over several years about the accuracy and capabilities of Theranos blood analyzers. Jurors at his trial are expected to hear from many of the same witnesses who testified against Holmes.
They include employees who testified about the company's lab taking dangerous shortcuts to conceal shortcomings with its analyzers, patients who recounted receiving inaccurate test results that left them anxious about their health, and advisers to investors who poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the company.
Balwani's lawyers are likely to emphasize the “sweat, blood, and tears” he poured into Theranos, said Seth Kretzer, a criminal defense lawyer based in Houston.
In 2009, when the company was almost out of cash, Holmes turned to Balwani for a $12 million line of credit. That same year, Balwani was appointed president and chief operating officer. His attorneys may highlight Balwani's back-seat role as Holmes soaked up the glamor the Theranos ascent garnered, Kretzer said.
It will be a hard sell to jurors, he said, as Holmes's lawyers also highlighted the fact that she never sold any of her Theranos shares, and that her fortune sank with the company's.
“Sunny can only point the finger at Elizabeth,” and argue “she kept him in the dark,” Kretzer said. “The defense is trying to plant enough doubt that they hope the jury doesn't lower the boom.”
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