Thread: US pharma chief arrested on fraud charges

A reviled US pharmaceutical boss who caused a storm in September by jacking up the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent was arrested Thursday on fraud charges, prosecutors said.

The arrest of Martin Shkreli -- who has appeared to revel in his notoriety -- was not linked to the massive increase in the price of Daraprim, a drug used to treat malaria and infections suffered by people with HIV.

The former hedge fund manager, 32, is accused of stealing $11 million in what the FBI described as a "securities fraud trifecta of lies, deceit and greed."

Prosecutors said the scheme involved another company he once led, Retrophin, and two hedge funds.

"As alleged, Martin Shkreli engaged in multiple schemes to ensnare investors through a web of lies and deceit," said Robert Capers, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

"His plots were matched only by efforts to conceal the fraud, which led him to operate his companies, including a publicly traded company, as a Ponzi scheme, where he used the assets of the new entity to pay off debts from the old entity."

It began in 2009 when Shkreli allegedly lied to eight people to get them to invest about $3 million in his hedge fund, Capers told a press conference.

When he lost the money through "bad trades" he started a new fund to try to cover the losses and continue to line his pockets.

Shkreli was also charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Over a five-year period, Shkreli is alleged to have perpetrated a series of frauds on investors in his hedge funds and Retrophin's shareholders in order to cover up his poor trading decisions," said Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC's enforcement division.

Shkreli is accused of siphoning about $120,000 from one of the hedge funds to pay for food, clothing, rent and other personal expenses.

He is also accused of lying to investors about one of the fund's size and performance by claiming returns of nearly 36 percent when it had really generated a loss of 18 percent and saying the fund had $35 million in assets when it really had less than $7,000.

He allegedly stole $900,000 in 2013 from one of the funds to settle with a broker who was suing him and stole more money to pay off disgruntled investors who were threatening legal action.

Also arrested was Evan Greebel, a lawyer who was outside counsel to Retrophin.

- Reveling in controversy -

Shkreli gained notoriety in September when his company Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim from $13.50 a tablet to $750 after acquiring the drug.

The move -- and his arrogant response to the controversy -- was angrily denounced by US politicians.

"Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous," Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton said on Twitter, vowing to fight runaway drug prices.

Turing later announced that while it would not lower the drug's per tablet price, it would negotiate agreements with health groups on wholesale prices.

Shkreli, the chief executive of the company, specializes in buying patents on inexpensive drugs and then hiking their price.

In November, he gained control of another drug company, Kalobios Pharmaceuticals, whose stock price plummeted on news of his arrest, falling 53.24 percent to $11.03 before trading was suspended.

Reveling in controversy, Shkreli made waves earlier this month by buying a secret Wu-Tang Clan album for $2 million, "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin."

Turing Pharmaceuticals did not immediately return a request for comment.

Reviled US pharma chief arrested on fraud charges

Hang the Cnut

One hopes the charges stick and he spends the rest of his life being raped in prison.

Much better than the death penalty.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

One hopes the charges stick and he spends the rest of his life being raped in prison.

If convicted.

Country club. Minimum security. Couple or few years.

Working on golf courses.

Heaped a lot of misery on vulnerable folk
10 or 15 yrs at least.

Great news.

Far from a pharma chief.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

One hopes the charges stick and he spends the rest of his life being raped in prison.

Much better than the death penalty.

You don't truly expect a serious punishment to come of it, do ya?
Big time influential controlling pharmaceutical mafia.

The establishment protect and cover one another.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

You don't truly expect a serious punishment to come of it, do ya?

Yep. Clearly you have no clue who this man is. Retarded half ass spammer who is clueless to reality.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Big time influential controlling pharmaceutical mafia.

Moron.

'Pharma bro' Shkreli convicted of fraud in U.S. court, assails 'witch hunt'

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. jury convicted Martin Shkreli, the brash former drug company and hedge fund executive, on Friday of defrauding investors in hedge funds he ran years before he gained fame for jacking up the price of a drug.

Jurors in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn found Shkreli guilty of two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy. But they acquitted him of five conspiracy counts, including conspiracy to steal from his old drug company, Retrophin Inc (RTRX.O).

Securities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, though defendants in such cases rarely receive the maximum sentence.

Federal prosecutors had accused the 34-year-old New Yorker of lying to investors in the funds and looting Retrophin to pay them back.

Immediately after the verdict, Shkreli appeared somewhat shaken. But when he emerged from the courthouse later to talk to reporters, he was happy and confident.

He portrayed the verdict, which came on the fifth day of deliberations after a monthlong trial, as a victory.

"This was a witch hunt of epic proportions, and maybe they found one or two broomsticks, but at the end of the day, we've been acquitted of the most important charges," he told reporters.

Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde, whose office prosecuted the case, praised the jury's decision.

"Justice was served," she said after the verdict.

Before going on trial, Shkreli had been best known for raising the price of anti-infection drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent in 2015 as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals.

That increase sparked outrage from U.S. lawmakers and patients - and earned Shkreli the nickname "Pharma bro."

Shkreli emphasized the jury's finding that he did not conspire to steal from Retrophin.

"Count seven was the government's attempt to theorize that I robbed Peter to pay Paul, and the jury has spoken conclusively that Retrophin was not defrauded in this case," Shkreli told reporters.

Shkreli's attorney, Benjamin Brafman, citing his client's acquittal on the Retrophin charge, said Shkreli might avoid prison time or at least receive a "much, much lower" sentence than that contemplated by the government.

Prosecutors said that, starting around 2009, Shkreli lied to investors in his hedge funds, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, concealing trading losses behind fake account statements.

Prosecutors said Shkreli eventually paid investors back with stock or cash from Retrophin by having them sign settlement or consulting agreements with the company. Those agreements were the basis for prosecutors' claim that Shkreli conspired to steal from Retrophin.

During his closing arguments, Brafman urged jurors to see his client not as a fraudster but as an eccentric genius determined to find cures for rare diseases.

Brafman said that Shkreli's statements to investors were made in good faith. He also emphasized that none of Shkreli's investors lost money, a rarity in a securities fraud case.

John Zach, a former federal prosecutor who is now a defense lawyer at the law firm of Boies Schiller Flexner, said the fact that investors did not lose money could help Shkreli get a lighter sentence.

Christopher LaVigne, a former federal prosecutor who is now a defense lawyer at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling, said it was notable that prosecutors secured a conviction without investor losses, and said it could encourage more such cases in the future.

“A case like this, I think it emboldens them,” he said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN1AK27F

Couldn't happen to a more deserving creature.
Smart-mouthed smarmy over-confident thieving wanker.