“Martin Shkreli engaged in multiple schemes to ensnare investors through a web of lies and deceit”, United States Attorney Robert Capers said in a press release.
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Martin Shkreli, center, leaves the courthouse after his arraignment in New York, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015.
And these were the last two tweets Shkreli wrote before Thursday’s indictment. The CEO is being held on security fraud charges involving an ex hedge fund and a pharmaceutical company he was previously involved with.
In an August civil lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, Retrophin sued its founder, Shkreli, seeking $65 million in damages and disgorgement of Shkreli’s compensation from the company.
Pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, who has come under fire on allegations of drug price gouging, was arrested Thursday by federal authorities. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to arrest someone on several counts of being a raging asshole whose only regret is that he didn’t raise the price of a life-saving drug higher.
Retrophin ousted him as CEO “because of serious concerns about his conduct”, the company told Bloomberg in a statement.
To pay back the MSMB funds’ investors, Mr Shkreli and lawyer Evan Greebel misappropriated $11 million in Retrophin assets through settlement agreements and sham consulting deals, according to the indictment.
The New York Times reports that federal officials describe his crime as a sort of Ponzi scheme, in which he used company money to pay off investors who were losing money in his hedge funds.
Shkreli was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy. It was not immediately clear who will represent Greebel in court.
Shkreli provoked a worldwide backlash in September when he announced his company had acquired the rights to the drug and would increase the price from .50 (£9), a hike of 5,500%. For over 60 years the drug has been used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can cause brain damage in babies and AIDS patients. Prosecutors say he used this to pay off debts.
But if the group is considering making a run for the album … they should call up Murray and go for it. Shkreli hoped that the move would allow him to meet with Sanders so he could better explain how drug pricing worked. And indie record label Collect Records said it was severing ties with Shkreli, who had been an investor.
But Shkreli recently took over another small publicly-traded drug company, KaloBios, which develops cancer drugs. Although the company promised to reduce the price, in November, it mentioned that it won’t but would instead offer concessions like volume discounts. Earlier this month, at a Forbes event where he wore a hoodie,”My shareholders expect me to make the most profit”.
But he also made an unapologetic business-is-business argument for the price jump.
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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?” “That’ll be $12,450….I love a little karma with my coffee….Martin Shkreli’s bail was going to be set at $500,000 but they raised it to $27,500,000 just for him.” Etc. He said he paid $2 million.
