Di 'world youngest self-made female billionaire' Elizabeth Holmes dey go jail for fraud

One California court don sentence Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes to ova 11 years in prison say e defraud investors for her blood testing start-up wey dem bin once value at $9bn (£7.5bn). 

Di former Silicon Valley star bin lie wen she claim say e fit diagnose disease wit just a few drops of blood.

Holmes, 38, wey get belle, tearfully tell di court say she feel "deep pain" for those wey di scam mislead.

Dem find her guilty for January afta one three-month trial. 

Holmes dey expected to appeal against di sentence wey di California court hand down to her on Friday.

As dem don once hail her as di "next Steve Jobs", dem also say she be di world's youngest self-made billionaire.

Holmes launch Theranos afta she drop out of Stanford University at age 19, and di value of di company rise sharply afta di company claim say e go bring one revolution on how to diagnose disease.. 

But di technology wey Holmes brag about no work and – afta plenty lawsuits – dem dissolve di company for 2018.

For Holmes' trial for San Jose, California, prosecutors say she knowingly mislead doctors and patients about Theranos' flagship product – wey be di Edison machine – wey di company claim say e fit detect cancer, diabetes and oda conditions by using just a few drops of blood. 

Dem also accuse Holmes say e lie about how di company dey perform to di pipo wey put money inside di business.

Jurors later find her guilty on four counts of fraud, wit a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. But dem find her not guilty on four oda charges, and dem also fail to reach a verdict on three more.

Before Judge Edward Davila issue im sentence on Friday, Holmes read one speech to di court wia she cry and apologise to investors and patients. 

"I dey devastated by my failings. I don felt deep pain for wetin pipo go through, because I fail dem," she tok. 

"I regret my failings wit every cell of my body," she continue. 

Di judge say Holmes na "brilliant" entrepreneur, and tell her: "Failure dey normal. But failure by fraud no dey OK."

During di trial Holmes accuse her ex-boyfriend and business partner, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, of emotional and sexual abuse at di time of di alleged crimes, say e affect her mental state.

Dem convict Balwani, 56, wey face di same fraud charges, for July and dem go later sentence am next month. Im don tok say di claims dey "outrageous".

How Elizabeth Holmes move from tech star to convicted fraudster 

She be "di world's youngest self-made female billionaire", according to Forbes magazine. Di "next Steve Jobs", according to Inc., anoda business magazine wey put her on di cover.

For 2014, Elizabeth Holmes, wey be 30 years old at dat time, dey on top of di world. di Stanford University drop-out, bin found a company dem value at $9bn (£6.5bn) wit claim say e dey bring about a revolution in diagnosing disease.

Wit a few drops of blood, Theranos promise say im Edison test fit detect conditions like cancer and diabetes quickly without using needles. Bigwigs from Henry Kissinger to General James Mattis sit on di board. 

But by 2015, tins no begin gel again and within one year, dem expose Holmes as fake. Di technology wey she brag about no work at all, and by 2018, di company wey she found don collapse. 

Even as she be di subject of a book, HBO documentary and an upcoming TV series and film, e still no dey clear why Holmes gamble on technology wey she sabi say e no go work. 

Dem raise her for one family wey dey comfortable for Washington DC, and she be polite but withdrawn child, according to pipo wey sabi her well. 

Inventor and businessman Richard Fuisz, 81, bin tok say e fit be say plenty pressure dey on Holmes to succeed. Im family live next door to di Holmes family for years, but dem get kwanta wen Theranos sue am ontop one patent dispute for 2011 (dem later settle am). 

Holmes parents spend much of dia careers as bureaucrats for Capitol Hill, but "dem dey very interested in status" and "live for connections", im tell di BBC. Her papa great-great-grandfather found Fleischmann's Yeast, wey change America bread industry, and di family dey very conscious about im lineage, e tok.

At age nine, di young Elizabeth write one letter to her papa dey declare wetin she "really want out of life na to discover sometin new, sometin wey mankind no tink say e dey possible to do". 

Wen she enta Stanford University for 2002 to study chemical engineering, she come up wit an idea for a patch wey fit scan di wearer for infections and release antibiotics. 

At 18, she don already dey ginger.

Phyllis Gardner, one expert for clinical pharmacology for Stanford, remember discussing Holmes skin-patch idea and tell her say e "no go work".

 "She just look me like say she no see me," Dr Gardner tell di BBC. 

"And she just dey like pesin wey dey absolutely confident of her own brilliance. She no dey interested in my expertise and e worry me." 

Months later Holmes drop out of Stanford at di age of 19 and launch Theranos, dis time, she come up wit one way of testing blood from a simple finger prick. 

Di tin ginger powerful pipo and dem invest without seeing financial accounts wey dem audit. 

US Treasury Secretary George Schultz, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and America richest family, di Waltons, dey among di pipo wey support her. 

Na di support give her credibility, as e also lead to her downfall.