Following five days of deliberations, jurors have found the so-called “Pharma Bro”, Martin Shkreli, guilty on three charges of fraud, several news outlets reported Friday.
Shkreli rose to infamy in 2015, when, as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, he raised the price of an anti-parasite drug often prescribed to HIV/AIDS patients by 5,000 percent. The move sparked widespread outrage, earning Shkreli the tag of “the most hated man in America.”
After receiving the verdict from the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Shkreli spoke saying, “We have some work to do” on the three guilty verdicts.
“This was a witch hunt of epic proportions and maybe they found one or two broomsticks,” Shkreli told reporters.
"Pharma Bro" Shkreli after trial: "This was a witch hunt of epic proportions, maybe they found 1 or 2 broomsticks" https://t.co/E2f3jnPt0N
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 4, 2017
During the trial, prosecutors maintained the 34-year-old defrauded investors at two hedge funds he used to run, MSMB Capital Management and MSMB Healthcare, from October 2009 to March 2014. After lying to them about the state of their investments, prosecutors say, Shkreli siphoned off millions of dollars from a pharmaceutical company named Retrophin, where he was CEO, to cover his debts.
In the case of MSMB Capital Management, for instance, Shkreli claimed to have made returns of 35.77 percent since its inception, when in reality the fund was actually down 18 percent. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Shkreli falsely claimed the fund had $35 million in assets when in reality it had less than $1,000.
The infamous hedge fund manager faces up to 20 years in prison, though legal experts said Shkreli will likely receive far less than the maximum sentence.
If you were the judge, what sentence would you dictate on the “Pharma Bro?”
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