Martin Shkreli Arrested for Securites Fraud
Martin Shkreli, the infamous drug company executive known for raising the price of a life-saving drug to absurd costs, is in the news once again after he was arrested at his Manhattan home Thursday on suspicion of securities fraud.
Bloomberg reports 32-year-old Shkreli, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, faces federal charges for allegedly taking stock from his former firm, Retrophin Inc., and using it to pay off debts in unrelated business dealings.
Shkreli was chief executive officer of Retrophin, but risky business decisions and erratic behavior led the biotech company to fire the young entrepreneur. He was later sued by the board.
Prosecutors are now accusing Shkreli of making "secret payoffs" and "setting up sham consulting arrangements" after suffering heavy losses to his hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management.
New York lawyer, Evan Greebel, was also arrested for allegedly conspiring with Shkreli. Neither Greebel nor Shkreli have commented on the accusations.
Shkreli, the son of Albanian and Croatian immigrants, attained massive success as a businessman after he dropped out of his elite Manhattan high school to take on Wall Street as a teenager.
Labeled by many in the business world as a "boy genius," Shkreli became the subject of national attention after his company purchased the drug Darapim, and jacked the price up from $13.50 to $750. The medicine is used to treat a parasitic condition known as toxoplasmosis, which can often prove fatal in unborn babies and people with weakened immune systems, such as HIV or cancer patients.
The move garnered massive hate from nearly everyone, including doctors, politicians and public-interest groups. Presidential candidate Donald Trump called Shkreli "a spoiled brat," while candidate Bernie Sanders rejected his campaign donation.
Shkreli appeared largely unapologetic, first saying he would lower the price before recanting. When candidate Hillary Clinton criticized the decision over social media, Shkreli replied by tweeting "lol."
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) November 5, 2015
At an appearance at a Forbes summit in New York, Shkreli bragged that if he could do it again, "I probably would have raised the price higher."
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