Martin Shkreli – the so-called “most hated man in America” – was arrested Thursday at his NY apartment and charged with securities fraud.
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The arrest is unrelated to the drug-pricing row or his current companies Turing Pharmaceuticals and KalaBios.
He was later charged during the indictment, but he was released after posting $5 million bail.
Lefcourt said that Shkreli’s high-profile statements and actions in recent months “raises his profile to a degree that could be devastating to him if he ever has to face a judge at sentencing”. He left court without saying anything to reporters. But then today hits, in what some might call an early Christmas present to the world, Shkreli is arrested for fraud by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, the inveterate capitalist, who also grew up in Brooklyn, noted that he’d expect something in return.
“We’re not aware of where he got the funds that he raised to buy the Wu-Tang Clan album”, United States Attorney Robert L. Capers told the New York Times.
Shkreli is accused of siphoning about $120,000 from one of the hedge funds to pay for food, clothing, rent and other personal expenses.
Also arrested was Evan Greebel, a lawyer who was outside counsel to Retrophin.
In September he sparked outrage after his drug company hiked the price of Daraprim – used to treat HIV patients – from £8.50 ($13.50) to £485 ($750) per pill. Prosecutors say he used this to pay off debts.
Calls to an attorney that has represented Shkreli in the past were not immediately returned. Bernie Sanders returned a donation from Shkreli.
The probe, by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, dates back to at least January when Retrophin said it received a subpoena from prosecutors seeking information about its relationship with Shkreli.
“Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous”, Ms Clinton said on Twitter, vowing to fight runaway drug prices.
But he has also unapologetically made a business-is-business argument for the price jump.
“And my investors expect me to maximise profits, not to minimise them or go half or go 70 percent but to go to 100 percent of the profit curve”.
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Should Pharma Bro stand trial for hiking the price of Daraprim as well? It’s the fairly boring stuff of white-collar crime, and not entirely surprising coming from someone who’s become a public villain of sorts in the last few months. Although the company promised to reduce the price, in November, it mentioned that it won’t but would instead offer concessions like volume discounts.
