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'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli Released on $5 Million Bond — and Still Owns That Wu-Tang Clan Album

The man who's come to symbolize the worst of pharmaceutical industry's mercenary practices is awaiting trial on charges of fraud and conspiracy.
Photo par Craig Ruttle/AP

Martin Shkreli, the notorious, price-gouging "pharma bro" who became a widely despised symbol for soaring drug prices earlier this year, was released on a $5 million bond package Thursday afternoon after pleading not guilty to running a Ponzi-like securities fraud scheme.

Shkreli, 32, sparked national outrage in the US earlier this year after his pharmaceutical company, Turing Pharmaceuticals Inc, hiked the price of the drug Daraprim, a common anti-parasitic drug, to $750 a tablet from $13.50 immediately after acquiring it. Shkreli staunchly defended his decision, responding "lol" to Hillary Clinton on Twitter after she criticized him.

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Federal prosecutors alleged that Shkreli used assets from a pharmaceutical company he previously headed, Retrophin Inc, to pay off debts after his hedge fund lost millions of dollars. Shkreli was charged Thursday with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy, and wire fraud conspiracy. The maximum sentence he may face is 20 years in prison.

"These charges in today's indictment highlight the brazenness and breadth of Shkreli's schemes and the outrageous web of lies and deceit weaved by both defendants," said Brooklyn-based US Attorney Robert Capers at a press conference today.

The indictment, the result of an ongoing investigation that dates back to January, also charged Evan Greebel, a former partner at law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman who was Retrophin's outside counsel. Greebel, 42, was also arrested on Thursday.

Both were also sued in a related lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which also named New York-based hedge fund MSMB Capital Management, Shkreli's former hedge fund, as a defendant. Shkreli and Greebel both pleaded not guilty.

News of Shkreli's arrest was met with an outpouring of Schadenfreude from all corners of the internet.

Please set Martin Shkreli's bail at $1,000,000. Then raise it 4000 percent

— Joel Beall (@JoelMBeall)December 17, 2015

Martin Shkreli just lowered the price of schadenfreude to fucking free

— Desi (@DesiJed)December 17, 2015

His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy There's vomit on his sweater already, martin shkreli — Caro (@socarolinesays)December 17, 2015

Shares of Shkreli's pharmaceutical company, KaloBios Inc, fell by 53 percent to $11.03 in premarket trading. Trading in the stock was halted for the day. The value of his stake in the company was already plummeting by the time he was arrested, by more than $25 million since he had bought it, noted Market Watch.

In addition to angering pharmaceutical executives and consumers alike, Shkreli has also managed to piss off hip-hop fans too. He recently bought the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan's latest album, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, for $2 million after the rap group agreed to sell it to the highest bidder. He then threatened to destroy the CD.

The FBI said today that they did not take the coveted the Wu-Tang Clan album from Shkreli since the officers did not have a seizure warrant during his arrest.  Capers did not know where Shkreli got the money to buy the rap album,  according to USA Today.