Martin Shkreli, former CEO of a pharmaceutical company is known for
buying up old drugs and immediately raising the price to consumers by as much
as 5,000% overnight. He recently raised the price of one drug that treats a
devastating infection in babies and people with AIDS from $13.50/pill to
$750/pill. Mr. Shkreli has often spoken out against critics, and has become
known as the “bad boy of pharmaceuticals,” portrayed by his excessive greed. On
December 17th, Mr. Shkreli was arrested for securities fraud and
wire fraud charges, not because he raised prices so quickly in his current
company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, but because of fraud he committed in two prior
hedge funds and a previous biopharmaceutical company, Retrophin.
Mr. Shkreli lied to investors for both of his hedge funds
while losing millions of dollars. He then paid them off by using funds from
Retrophin without consent from the board of directors. Throughout the process,
he and a partner fabricated consulting agreements so that external auditors
would not be suspicious of the transactions taking place between Retrophin and
the investors of the two hedge funds. This article
from The New York Times and the video
below (posted by the Associated Press) give more information about what Mr.
Shkreli did and what he has been charged for.
