Ex-Theranos executive Balwani loses bid to stay prison-free during appeal

Ramesh Sunny Balwani, the Indian-origin former chief operating officer of a US-based failed blood-testing start-up, Theranos, has lost his bid to remain free while he appeals his conviction on fraud charges that prosecutors said risked patient health and defrauded the firm's investors of millions of dollars, according to a media report.

A federal judge on Thursday, in a 17-page ruling, denied the motion by Balwani to remain free until his appeal to a higher court is resolved, the CBS News channel reported.

US District Judge Edward Davila held a nearly two-hour hearing on Balwani's motion in mid-February but delayed ruling until six days before the convict must report to prison.

Balwani, 57, was sentenced in December last year in California to 12 years and 11 months in federal prison for fraud that risked patient health by misrepresenting the accuracy of Theranos blood analysis technology and that defrauded the blood-testing company's investors of millions of dollars.

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