Martin Shkreli, The Most Hated Man In America, Arrested By FBI For Securities Fraud

Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical company CEO douche has been arrested by the FBI, Bloomberg Business reported.

Shkreli, the current boss of Turing Pharmaceuticals, was taken into custody at his New York City residence by the FBI early Thursday morning. The arrest stems from earlier in his career when he was a manager of hedge fund MSMB Capital Management. Maybe he can sell that fancy new Wu-Tang Clan album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” that he bought for $2 million to use as bail money.

From Blooomberg:

Federal prosecutors accused Shkreli of engaging in a complicated shell game after his defunct hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, lost millions. He is alleged to have made secret payoffs and set up sham consulting arrangements. A New York lawyer, Evan Greebel, was also arrested early Thursday. He’s accused of conspiring with Shkreli in part of the scheme.

Prosecutors claim the 32-year-old illegally took stock from Retrophin Inc., a biotechnology company he founded in 2011, and used the stolen funds to pay off his debts. In August, Retrophin sued Shkreli, claiming he used company funds on his failed hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management. In the complaint by the company, they claim that a disastrous trade with Merrill Lynch in 2011 cost MSMB more than $7 million, leaving it virtually bankrupt.

Retrophin also stated that Shkreli attempted to pay off as many as 10 MSMB investors who lost money when the hedge fund became insolvent. Shkreli paid some investors through fake consulting agreements and others through unauthorized appropriations of stock and cash.

However, Shkreli casually blew off the lawsuit, arrogantly saying, “The $65 million Retrophin wants from me would not dent me. I feel great. I’m licking my chops over the suits I’m going to file against them.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into Shkreli in 2012, and is expected to file a parallel civil complaint against him.

The infamous pharma prick garnered worldwide ire in September after hiking the price of 62-year-old HIV drug Daraprim over 5,000 percent, from $13.50 to $750 a pill. Earning him the dubious title of “Most Hated Man In America.” Then last week, he promised to greedily jack up the life-saving drug benznidazole that cures Chagas disease.

Shkreli didn’t help his already wrecked public image by saying some sexually explicit comments about Taylor Swift this week. In an interview with HipHopDX, Shkreli discusses the recent comments from Wu-Tang Clan members who say they wish they could take their album back. “If I hand you $2 million, fucking show me some respect,” Shkreli said. “At least have the decency to say nothing or ‘no comment.'” When the slug was asked if he would share the exclusive album he said, “I’m not going to play it for no reason. If Taylor Swift wants to come over and suck my dick, I’ll play it for her. [Laughs]”

Also in the interview Shkreli announced that he wanted to post bail for the incarcerated Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda.

“Forget whether you think he’s guilty or not. The guy should not be sitting in jail right now. It’s insane. He’s from Brooklyn. I’m from Brooklyn. He deserves a fair trial. He deserves good lawyers. He doesn’t have good lawyers. His label is hanging him out to dry. I’d like to pay for his legal defense as well. I’m a big fan but also I’m an opportunist. You know that. I see an opportunity here.”

But who is going to bail out Shkreli?

[Bloomberg]