'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli convicted of securities fraud in mixed verdict
Martin Shkreli/JStone (Shutterstock.com)
Drug company CEO Martin Shkreli--the self-described "Pharma Bro"--said he was “delighted in many ways” after he was convicted Friday on three of eight counts in a securities fraud trial he called a "witch hunt."
Federal jurors in Brooklyn, New York, convicted Shkreli on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, the New York Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. The Associated Press, the Washington Post and the New York Times have stories.
Shkreli had been accused of using money from Retrophin, his publicly traded drug company, to pay back investors who lost money in two of his hedge funds. Prosecutors contended he told investors “lies upon lies” during his scheme, although investors ultimately made money.
Shkreli faces up to 20 years in prison, but legal experts expect a lesser sentence, according to the Washington Post.
During the trial, U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto ordered Shkreli to stop talking to courthouse media, but he commented at the conclusion of the trial, according to the Washington Post account.
“This was a witch hunt of epic proportions,” Shkreli said. “They may have found some broomsticks.”
Also charged in the case is former BigLaw partner Evan Greebel, who pleaded not guilty and is awaiting an October trial. He was charged in connection with his work as Retrophin’s outside counsel when he was a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenmann.
Greebel is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, the New York Law Journal (sub. req.) reported in a prior story.
Shkreli was also in the news in connection with his leadership of another drug company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, when he hiked the price of its lifesaving drug Daraprim by more than 5,400 percent to $750 per pill. That action was not part of the prosecution.
Typo in second paragraph corrected on Sept. 14.
