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Theranos Used Shell Company To Secretly Buy Outside Lab Equipment, Says Report (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company "allegedly misled company directors" regarding its lab tests and used a shell company to buy commercial lab gear. These are just a few of the new revelations made by the Journal, which also include fake demonstrations for potential investors. The new information came from unsealed depositions by 22 former Theranos employees or members of its board of directors. They were deposed by Partner Fund Management LP, a hedge fund currently suing Theranos in Delaware state court. Theranos is also facing multiple lawsuits in federal court in California and Arizona, among others. The Journal, which did not publish the new filings, quoted former Theranos director Admiral Gary Roughead (Ret.), as saying that he was not aware that the company was using "extensive commercial analyzers" until it was reported in the press. The Journal described the filings as "some of the first substantive details to emerge from several court proceedings against the company, though they include only short excerpts from the depositions."
It's tempting to think she really believed the technology was almost working, that they just needed a little more time and money to iron out the kinks. But what makes me suspect she was a fraud from early on was her attempt to build a mystique around herself - the black turtleneck, bleached blond hair, all the VIPs she had on the board - it all reeks of snake oil.