NEW YORK — Martin Shkreli was ordered by a federal judge Monday to forfeit nearly $7.4 million as a result of his fraud convictions last year.
Brooklyn Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said he must give up his one-of-a-kind Wu Tang album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” for which Shkreli reportedly paid $2 million. In addition to the album, Matsumoto also ordered him to give up a Picasso painting, an album called “The Carter V” by Lil Wayne, and $5 million he posted for bail.
Shkreli was convicted of fraud for deceiving investors and misusing their money while he was a portfolio manager at a hedge fund. He faces sentencing at Brooklyn Federal Court on Friday, and could potentially get up to 20 years in prison. Shkreli was convicted on August 4, 2017, and was out on bail until September 13, when the judge threw him in jail for his online offer of $5,000 to anyone who would bring him a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair. Shkreli has been at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center ever since.
His lawyer, Ben Brafman, did not respond to a request for comment.
Shkreli, the former Chief Executive Officer of Retrophin, is most famous for his role as founder and CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. That’s where he jacked up the price of Daraprim, a life-saving drug for HIV patients, from $13.50 a pill to $750, sparking an angry public backlash. He ended up testifying on Capitol Hill about drug prices, but he sneered his way through the appearance and pleaded the Fifth Amendment. The Daraprim debacle has nothing to do with his fraud convictions. Shkreli still has a net worth of $27.1 million, after subtracting for the forfeiture, and the taxes and legal fees that he owes, according to a court document.
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