Martin Shkreli, center, leaves the courthouse after his arraignment in New York, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015. After days public outrage, Shkreli announced he would lower the price in order to make the drug “more affordable”.
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He defended the move as a necessary one for his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals. It was not immediately clear who will represent Greebel in court.
Turing and Shkreli had taken a lot of heat for raising the price of Daraprim, a drug for patients with weakened immune systems, from $13.50 to $750. The company then filed a complaint in federal court against him earlier this year for evidence of “self-dealing transactions” to pay back former MSMB investors.
Prosecutors alleged that Shkreli carried out three interrelated fraudulent schemes by money from Retrophin to repay investors in MSMB Capital.
Shkreli is accused of siphoning about $US120,000 from one of the hedge funds to pay for food, clothing, rent and other personal expenses.
According to the release, if Shkreli is convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The Brooklyn-born Shkreli has found himself at the center of a firestorm over drug pricing in the last few months, and he hasn’t been afraid to throw on more fuel.
The drug is the only approved treatment for toxoplasmosis, a disease that mainly strikes pregnant women, cancer patients and AIDS patients.
Thursday’s arrest isn’t actually related to the drug price hike.
The law firm said later in a statement that it is “deeply concerned” by the charges and is conducting its own internal investigation. Although it’s hard to tell if it’s meant to be satire or a legitimate call for Shkreli to be let go.
Fast forward more than a decade later, the 32-year-old Shkreli’s schemes may send him to jail for a long time.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Shkreli dropped million on the only existing copy of the latest Wu-Tang Clan album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” for $2 million. Capers also said that the investigation was continuing and more arrests were probable.
In recent days, he has said that journalists do not “matter” and asked about a Democratic presidential candidate, “If @BernieSanders was a parasite what would he be?”
In August 2013, when Retrophin’s external auditor questioned the settlement agreements and determined that Retrophin was not responsible for the claims resolved in the settlement agreements, Shkreli and Greebel caused MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare to execute indemnification agreements and promissory notes for the benefit of Retrophin even though they knew that the funds had no assets. He refers to those who follow him online as his “fans”.
Shkreli, often called the “pharma bro” for his cocky persona and approach to business, supposedly ran Retrophin, the company he was previously CEO of, like a “Ponzi scheme”.
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KaloBios shares fell 50 percent to $11.75 in NY trading before the market opened.
