Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes exits a federal court after a status hearing on July 17, 2019 in San Jose, California.
Kimberly White | Getty Images
SAN JOSE, CALIF. – A former real estate attorney told juries on Elizabeth Holmes’ criminal trial that he invested $ 6 million in Theranos after he was introduced to Holmes by ex-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Daniel Mosley, who counted Kissinger among his clients, took the stand on Tuesday in the ninth week of the trial. He said he first heard about the blood testing startup in 2013 from Kissinger, who was one of several high-ranking former government officials on Theranos’ board of directors.
“Dr. Kissinger explained to me that he is on the board of directors at Theranos and that it is a very interesting company,” said Mosely. “He said it would be great if you took the time to read up on the company and give me your thoughts on it.”
Mosley testified that Holmes was looking for “high quality families” to invest. During his conversations with Holmes, Mosley said he had started looking into a potential investment for himself.
“I was still looking at it with the intention of saying what I thought to Dr. Kissinger,” said Mosley, adding that he found it “personally interesting.”
Holmes fights ten cases of wire transfer fraud and two cases of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Federal prosecutors allege Holmes and co-conspirator Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani tricked hundreds of millions of dollars from investors while knowingly misleading doctors and patients with claims about revolutionary blood testing technology. Neither of them pleaded guilty.
The prosecutors showed a folder that was given to Mosley. It contained the promises Theranos made to investors. One slide reads: “Theranos has been extensively validated by 10 of the top 15 pharmaceutical companies over the past seven years, processing hundreds of thousands of assays.”
Mosley said he knew this was a risky bet and that investing in a start-up meant he could lose his money. But he said he believed the data he was shown
“Did I think I had inaccurate information?” he said to the jury. “No.”
Introduction of Theranos to other customers
Mosley said he arranged for Holmes to meet members of the Walton family, DeVos family, and Cox family in 2014, all of whom were his customers.
“I thought the company had tremendous potential for the good in the world to do these types of tests as described,” said Mosley. “And I’ve obviously had customers who shared my views.”
Each of these families invested millions of dollars in Theranos.
“I told the people I introduced that Elizabeth was someone I met, I was impressed with their idea and technology, and I thought they’d enjoy getting to know her,” Mosley said.
Mosley’s testimony continues on Wednesday.
The trial was briefly interrupted earlier in the day by a man in the back of the courtroom taking a picture on his phone. The bailiff confronted the man and asked him to delete the picture. US District Court judge Edward Davila suspended the proceedings and called the man outside the courtroom to warn him.
SEE: Elizabeth Holmes’ criminal trial is in its ninth week
