Pharma profiteer Martin Shkreli sentenced to 7 years prison
Martin Shkreli, former drug executive, was found guilty of defrauding investors, and was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday. His notoriety won him the epithets "Pharma Bro" and "most hated man in America." Apart from exorbitantly raising the price of important drugs, he was infamous for security fraud, manipulating stock prices and looting millions from two hedge funds that he operated. Here's more.
First off, who is Martin Shkreli?
Son of Albanian-Croatian immigrants, Martin Shkreli began his career in hedge funds. In 2008, he started his hedge fund MSMB Capital Management, which would also become the launch-pad for founding biotech firms. In 2011, he founded biotech-firm 'Retrophin' to focus on medicines for rare diseases. He was ousted from there for improper handling of legal documents. After his ouster, he launched 'Turing Pharmaceuticals'.
So, how did Shkreli become the object of ridicule?
Retrophin slapped a lawsuit claiming that Shkreli founded the company and took it public to pay-off investors in his hedge fund. However, he became the public enemy when he jacked up the price of AIDS-treating drug Daraprim from $13 to $750 overnight, a 5,000% hike. He said profits will be used to improve the drug. He became the poster-boy for "everything wrong with capitalism."
How did the case against him proceed?
In December'15, Shkreli was indicted for unrelated security fraud. Later, in August'17, a jury found Shkreli guilty of defrauding investors in hedge funds, by sending fake account statements concealing huge losses. He was also charged for propping up Retrophin's stock price. Since then, Shkreli's been in jail. His bail was revoked after he offered social-media followers $5,000 for bringing US-Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's hair.
Now, how did Shkreli react to the sentence?
Shkreli's lawyers asked the judge to impose a sentence of 12-18 months, while prosecutors wanted 15 years. His lawyer Benjamin Brafman said, "There are times when I want to hug him and then when I want to punch him." Shkreli apparently blamed himself and wept. "There is no conspiracy to take down Martin Shkreli. I took down Shkreli with my disgraceful and shameful actions."
