By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Capitol Times
A California firm that parlayed a change in Arizona law to generate business here was charged Wednesday by federal regulators with defrauding investors with false claims about its technology – the very technology that was cited in amending the state law.
Attorneys for the Securities and Exchange Commission contend in a new lawsuit filed in federal court in California that Theranos Inc. and founder Elizabeth Holmes raised more than $700 million while making it appear the company had successfully developed a portable blood analyzer that could perform a full range of laboratory tests from a small sample of blood.
“They deceived investors by, among other things, making false and misleading statements to the media, hosting misleading technology demonstrations, and overstating the extent of Theranos’ relationships with commercial partners and government entities, to whom they had also made misrepresentations,” the lawsuit says.
