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Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes leaves a federal court after a status hearing on July 17, 2019 in San Jose, California.
Kimberly White | Getty Images
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — A former estate attorney told jurors in Elizabeth Holmes’ criminal trial that he invested $6 million in Theranos after being introduced to Holmes by ex-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Daniel Mosley, who counted Kissinger as a client, took the stand on Tuesday in week nine of the trial. He said that he first heard of the blood-testing start-up in 2013 through Kissinger, who was one of several high-profile former government officials on the Theranos board.
“Dr. Kissinger explained to me he was on the board of Theranos and that it was a very interesting company,” Mosely said. “He said it would be terrific if you would take the time to learn about the company and give me your views on it.”
Mosley testified that Holmes was looking for “high-quality families” to invest. During his conversations with Holmes, Mosley said he began evaluating a potential investment for himself.
“I was still looking at it with an intent to tell Dr. Kissinger what I thought about it,” Mosley said adding that he found it to be “personally interesting.”
Holmes is fighting ten counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Federal prosecutors allege Holmes and co-conspirator Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani swindled hundreds of millions of dollars from investors while knowingly misleading doctors and patients with claims of revolutionary blood-testing technology. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors showed a binder that was given to Mosley. It included the promises Theranos made to investors. One slide said, “Theranos has been comprehensively validated over the course of the last seven years by 10 of the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies, with hundreds of thousands of assays processed.”
Mosley said he knew it 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 jurors. “No.”
Introducing Theranos to other clients
Mosley said that in 2014 he arranged for Holmes to meet with members of the Walton family, the DeVos family and the Cox family, who were all his clients.
“I thought the company had enormous potential for good in the world, for being able to do this sort of testing as described,” Mosley said. “And I obviously had clients who would have a similar view as mine.”
Each of those families invested millions of dollars in Theranos.
“I told the individuals I introduced that Elizabeth is somebody I had come across, I was impressed with her idea and technology and this is somebody I thought they would enjoy meeting,” 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 who took a photograph with his phone. The courtroom deputy confronted the man and asked him to delete the picture. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila paused proceedings and called the man up to the front of the courtroom to admonish him.
WATCH: Elizabeth Holmes criminal trial enters its ninth week
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