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Sweet justice: Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli arrested for securities fraud

Published Dec 17th, 2015 9:27AM EST
Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Securities Fraud Arrest
Image: Bloomberg TV

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Who would have thought that the pharma CEO who raised AIDS drug prices by 5,500% would be the sort of person to get mixed up in securities fraud? Bloomberg is reporting that Internet villain Martin “Pharma Bro” Shkreli has been arrested for allegedly committing securities fraud, as he illegally took stock from a biotechnology firm he founded and used it to pay off debts for unrelated business dealings.

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“In the case… federal prosecutors accused Shkreli of engaging in a complicated shell game after his defunct hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, lost millions,” Bloomberg reports. “He is alleged to have made secret payoffs and set up sham consulting arrangements.”

Shkreli first came into the public eye after it was revealed that his company Turing Pharmaceuticals decided to jack up the price of an important AIDS-related drug called Daraprim from $13.50 per tablet to $750 per tablet. Shkreli tried to justify this price increase in a disastrous series of interviews in which he came across as a smug, greedy little brat who even earned the scorn of Donald Trump for being too much of a jerk.

Here’s another interesting aspect of Shkreli’s arrest: It opens up the potential for members of the Wu-Tang Clan to set up a heist or caper to retrieve the sole copy of their secret album. As you may recall, the Wu sold Shkreli the lone copy of Once Upon A Time In Shaolin earlier this year for $2 million. However, the contract Shkreli signed with the group stipulated that “the seller may legally plan and attempt to execute one (1) heist or caper to steal back” the album at any time over the next 88 years.

With Shkreli arrested and presumably in custody for the time being, now would be the perfect opportunity for RZA, Ghostface Killah, Method Man and the gang to pull off the heist of the century. Here’s hoping they do it.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.