‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli convicted of 3 out of 8 fraud charges, assails ‘witch hunt’
A US jury convicted Martin Shkreli, the brash former drug company and hedge fund executive, on Friday of defrauding investors in hedge funds he ran years before he gained fame for jacking up the price of a drug.
Jurors in US District Court in Brooklyn found Shkreli guilty of two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy. But they acquitted him of five conspiracy counts, including conspiracy to steal from his old drug company, Retrophin Inc.
Securities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, though defendants in such cases rarely receive the maximum sentence.
Federal prosecutors had accused the 34-year-old New Yorker of lying to investors in the funds and looting Retrophin to pay them back.
Immediately after the verdict, Shkreli appeared somewhat shaken. But when he emerged from the courthouse later to talk to reporters, he was happy and confident.
He portrayed the verdict, which came on the fifth day of deliberations after a monthlong trial, as a victory.
“This was a witch hunt of epic proportions, and maybe they found one or two broomsticks, but at the end of the day, we’ve been acquitted of the most important charges,” he told reporters.
Acting US Attorney Bridget Rohde, whose office prosecuted …read more
