{"id":1188483,"date":"2022-01-04T19:50:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T00:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1188483"},"modified":"2022-01-04T19:50:28","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T00:50:28","slug":"theranos-used-indentured-h-1b-foreign-visa-workers-to-keep-fraud-scheme-operating-under-secrecy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/theranos-used-indentured-h-1b-foreign-visa-workers-to-keep-fraud-scheme-operating-under-secrecy\/","title":{"rendered":"Theranos Used &#039;Indentured&#039; H-1B Foreign Visa Workers to Keep Fraud Scheme Operating Under Secrecy"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftheranos-used-indentured-h-1b-foreign-visa-workers-to-keep-fraud-scheme-operating-under-secrecy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1188483&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1158861261-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Defunct biotech corporation Theranos, whose founder and CEO Elizabeth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/tech\/2022\/01\/03\/former-theranos-ceo-elizabeth-holmes-found-guilty-of-fraud-and-conspiracy\/\">Holmes was convicted<\/a> of fraud and conspiracy, used the United States government\u2019s H-1B visa program to employ dozens of foreign workers \u201cakin to indentured servitude,\u201d reports reveal.<\/p>\n<p>This week, a federal grand jury convicted Holmes on&nbsp;three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud which include defrauding wealthy investors like the DeVos family out of hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Holmes, along with her partner and former boyfriend Ramesh \u201cSunny\u201d Balwani, had raked in billions in investments from 2003 to 2015 by claiming that Theranos\u2019 nanotechnology could retrieve tiny blood samples from patients and test them for a myriad of illnesses and diseases.<\/p>\n<p>Holmes\u2019 alleged nanotechnology breakthrough that vowed to end the days of having to take large samples of blood from patients to run standard blood tests&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/the-media\/2022\/01\/04\/nolte-corporate-media-enabled-elizabeth-holmes-fraud-glowing-coverage\/\">was hailed<\/a> by the establishment media, former President Bill Clinton, then-Vice President Joe Biden, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/04\/former-theranos-ceo-elizabeth-holmes-duped-a-litany-of-high-end-investors\/\">wealthy investors<\/a> who ranged from&nbsp;Henry Kissinger to&nbsp;Rupert Murdoch.<\/p>\n<p>Former <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> John Carreyrou cracked the case open in a series of reports at the time and his book titled <em>Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup<\/em>. In his book, Carreyrou detailed how Holmes and Balwani used the H-1B visa program to keep their employees quiet and compliant even as the fraud scheme unraveled:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>The biggest problem of all was the dysfunctional corporate culture in which it was being developed. Elizabeth and Sunny regarded anyone who raised a concern or an objection as a cynic and a naysayer<\/strong>. Employees who persisted in doing so were usually marginalized or fired, while sycophants were promoted. <strong>Sunny had elevated a group of ingratiating Indians to key positions<\/strong>. One of them was Sam Anekal, the manager in charge of integrating the various components of the miniLab who had clashed with Ian Gibbons. Another was Chinmay Pangarkar, a bioengineer with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. There was also Suraj Saksena, a clinical chemist who had a Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics from Texas A&amp;M. On paper, all three had impressive educational credentials, but they shared two traits: they had very little industry experience, having joined the company not long after finishing their studies, and they had a habit of telling Elizabeth and Sunny what they wanted to hear, either out of fear or out of desire to advance, or both. [Emphasis added]\n<p><strong>For the dozens of Indians Theranos employed, the fear of being fired was more than just the dread of losing a paycheck. Most were on H-1B visas and dependent on their continued employment at the company to remain in the country<\/strong>. With a despotic boss like <strong>Sunny holding their fates in his hands, it was akin to indentured servitude. Sunny, in fact, had the master-servant mentality common among an older generation of Indian businessmen. Employees were his minions<\/strong>. He expected them to be at his disposal at all hours of the day or night and on weekends. He checked the security logs every morning to see when they badged in and out. Every evening, around seven thirty, he made a fly-by of the engineering department to make sure people were still at their desks working. [Emphasis added]\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>For years, Breitbart News has chronicled the abuses against white-collar American professionals as a result of the H-1B visa program. There are&nbsp;about 650,000 H-1B visa&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/cis.org\/estimating-h1b-population-2-11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">foreign<\/a>&nbsp;workers&nbsp;in the U.S. at any given moment. Americans are&nbsp;often&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/border\/2017\/08\/09\/h-1b-visa-displaced-american-workers-new-report-finds\/\">laid off<\/a>&nbsp;in the process and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2019\/12\/31\/report-att-laying-off-americans-forcing-them-to-train-their-foreign-replacements\/\">forced<\/a>&nbsp;to train their foreign replacements, as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/texas\/2017\/06\/27\/traumatic-americans-share-h-1b-outsourcing-stories-camera\/\">highlighted<\/a>&nbsp;by Breitbart News.<\/p>\n<p>At Theranos, Holmes and Balwani <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myvisajobs.com\/Visa-Sponsor\/Theranos\/548438.htm\">imported<\/a> dozens of H-1B foreign visa workers, likely entirely from India, to take jobs as software development engineers, embedded systems engineers, and scientists, among other roles.<\/p>\n<p>After remaining on H-1B visas, the foreign imports at Theranos could get sponsored for an employment-based green card but such a move would only be taken if the employees showed their loyalty to Holmes and Balwani\u2019s operation, Carreyrou\u2019s accounts indicate.<\/p>\n<p>American computer scientist Philip Greenspun <a href=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/08\/theranos-was-an-immigration-and-h-1b-story\/\">blogged<\/a> about Theranos\u2019 use of H-1B foreign visa workers, noting that the first round of hires of mostly American and British engineers and scientists were quickly replaced with an Indian H-1B visa workforce. Greenspun writes:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Bad Blood, the authoritative book on the rise and fall of Theranos, describes American- and British-born engineers and scientists being fired for saying \u201cthe goal is too ambitious\u201d or quitting when realizing this. Who replaced them? According to the book, almost all immigrants from India, either folks who\u2019d recently completed a degree in the U.S. or coming over on H-1B visas, all managed by Ramesh Balwani, Elizabeth Holmes\u2019s boyfriend.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cDuring the \u2018grand fraud\u2019 stage of Theranos, therefore, it was a primarily immigrant show except for the young impresaria,\u201d Greenspun notes.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JxhnBxnder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">here<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defunct biotech corporation Theranos, whose founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of fraud and conspiracy, used the United States government\u2019s H-1B visa program to employ dozens of foreign workers &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1188483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1188483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1188483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1188483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1188483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1188483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}