Theranos COO Bałwani Becomes Inmate Number 24966-111

Former Theranos COO ‘Sunny’ Balwani surrenders to federal prison

Elizabeth Holmes’ co-defendant and former chief operating officer of collapsed Silicon Valley startup, Theranos, surrendered himself to federal prison on Friday.

Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, 57, was sentenced to 155 months behind bars for a dozen wire fraud and conspiracy convictions tied to his role in the once high-flying blood-testing venture founded by Holmes.

Balwani began serving out his nearly 13-year sentence at FCI Terminal Island prison in San Pedro, California. He was booked into the facility under inmate registration number 24966-111.

Holmes, who was convicted on similar felony charges, is scheduled to surrender to federal prison on April 27.

Accountant Shortage Leaves Some US Cities Without Credit Ratings

A growing shortage of accountants has exacerbated issues for Marion and plagued dozens of cities and counties across the US. Marion saw its general obligation debt rating downgraded two notches in June and has struggled to file its financials on time. Other municipalities have recently seen their bond ratings deteriorate or disappear, threatening their ability to finance projects and borrow at affordable interest rates.

The Crypto Detectives Are Cleaning Up

When cryptocurrencies hit the mainstream in the 2010s, the technology was widely viewed as a perfect vehicle for crime. A drug dealer or scam artist could transfer large quantities of money instantly, without relying on a bank to validate the transaction. To early advocates, crypto was appealing because it promised the secrecy and anonymity of cash, without the inconvenience of face-to-face exchanges.

That secrecy was an illusion. Crypto transactions are inscribed on a publicly viewable ledger called a blockchain. To the untrained observer, blockchain records are unintelligible — a jumble of meaningless letters and numbers. But a growing industry is dedicated to deciphering them.

Ex-OpenSea manager’s trial kicks off in first NFT insider trading caseU.S. prosecutors will square off this week against a former employee of OpenSea, the world’s largest marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), whom they accuse of insider trading.

The charges against Nathaniel Chastain, a former OpenSea product manager, were the first in a series of high-profile cases related to digital assets launched by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office last year. It is considered the first criminal insider trading case involving such assets.

Prosecutors have accused Chastain of secretly buying dozens of NFTs based on confidential information that the tokens, or others from the same creators, would soon be featured on OpenSea’s home page.

SEC loses bid to sanction VW in dispute over emissions case witness

A U.S. magistrate judge on Friday refused to sanction Volkswagen AG over the refusal of one of its managing agents to sit for questioning by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in its case arising from VW’s emissions cheating scandal.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex Tse said in his ruling that VW had not acted in “bad faith” in its efforts to convince Thorsten Duesterdiek to sit for questioning by the SEC in its lawsuit in San Francisco federal court.

“VW has used its best efforts to produce Duesterdiek, and at this point it’s unclear what else VW can do,” Tse wrote. He noted that Duesterdiek faces charges in Germany over the emissions fraud.

Tycoon Mike Lynch Set to Be Sent to US After Losing Appeal

UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch is set to be extradited to the US to face criminal charges over the sale of his Autonomy Corp. to Hewlett Packard after British courts closed the door on any future UK appeals.

Lynch lost his bid to block his transfer to the US after the London judges refused permission to appeal. It comes after the British government approved the move in January 2022 and followed a separate court judgment that he was dishonest in the $11 billion sale of his company.

Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Sue Over Pre-Merger Statements of SPAC Target Company

As readers of this blog know, in the last couple of years a significant number of SPAC-related securities lawsuits have been filed, often arising after the post-merger de-SPAC company stumbles following the SPAC merger. In many of these cases, the securities suit plaintiffs often allege that the pre-merger private company made misleading statements about its business or operations, the truth about which only became apparent after the merger with the SPAC was completed.

In an interesting decision in a securities suit involving the used car consignment company CarLotz, which merged with a SPAC in January 2021, the court held that the named plaintiffs, one who purchased shares of the pre-merger SPAC and another bought shares in the post-merger de-SPAC, did not have standing under the securities laws to sue for alleged misrepresentations made by the pre-merger private company. Because this issue often comes up in SPAC-related securities suits, the court’s ruling potentially could have important implications in other SPAC lawsuits. A copy of the Southern District of New York’s March 31, 2023, order can be found here.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to Introduce Gold Backed Digital Currency

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) plans to introduce a gold-backed digital currency as legal tender to help stabilize the local currency, the Zim dollar, the Sunday Mail reported.

The tokens will be a form of electronic money backed by the country’s gold reserves, which will be held by the central bank. RBZ wants people holding Zim dollars to be able to exchange their money for the gold-backed token to help them hedge against the volatility of the local currency.

The Zim dollar is known for being volatile. A year ago, 1 U.S. dollar was worth about 150 Zim dollars, now it’s closer to 1,000, according to Investing.com. The country operates with both the Zim dollar and the U.S. dollar.