Many made light of Shkreli’s recent purchase of the sole copy of an album by rap legends the Wu-Tang Clan for $2 million.
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Investigators say that between 2009 and 2012 Shkreli conned investors by lying about the performance of his hedge fund. He also routed money from Retrophin, a company he controlled along with his lawyer Greebel, in order to “satisfy Shkreli’s personal and unrelated professional debts and obligations”, according to the indictment.
Shkreli was charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.
That was a reference to September, when Shkreli gained notoriety after his company Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim from $13.50 a tablet to $750 after acquiring the drug. It’d certainly be in better hands, and the clause Wu-Tang Clan had said that they could reclaim the album in a heist. Shkreli’s efforts to hide the fraud led him to use the assets of Retrophin to pay off debts from his hedge funds, Capers said.
Shkreli was charged in an indictment unconnected to the drug price hikes imposed by his company Turing Pharmaceuticals.
That is how federal law enforcement officials described the allegations unveiled Thursday against pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli.
Shkreli’s legal woes stemmed from hedge fund work he did prior to taking on his current position.
“A new chapter for Retrophin began the day the company replaced Martin Shkreli more than a year ago – and that decision has been vindicated by today’s indictment”, said the company’s statement. “Until we have had the opportunity to review the charges against Mr Shkreli, we can not comment further”.
US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Robert Capers points to a chart headed “Shkreli’s ponzi-like scheme”, with members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and US Securities and Exchange Commission.
If convicted, both men could get up to 20 years in prison. He fought critics on Twitter and argued that the price hike was meant to fund further research and development of new drugs.
Shkreli caught the harsh criticism in the health community after he announced the rights acquisition of Daraprim, an off-patent drug used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can lead to eye problems and seizures. The company’s stock was trading at less than $1 before he made the move, and the stock subsequently rose to as high as $39.50, giving the company a market value of more than $100 million.
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Recently it emerged that he bought the only copy of a Wu-Tang Clan album titled “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin”, which the group sold on the condition that it not be released publicly.
