Notorious pharma CEO arrested on fraud charges

Martin Shkreli earned the epithet of “the most hated man on the internet” after he bought the rights to a life-saving-HIV-related drug and subsequently increased the price by 5,000%.

Now, the former Hedge Fund Manager is facing a possible 20-year jail sentence for fraud. Shkreli was arrested last week on allegations that between 2009 and 2014, he lost many of his investors’ money through bad trades and ill-conceived deals. He then stole £8.5 million from Turing Pharmaceuticals, the company of which he was the CEO, in order to pay his clients back.

Shkreli quickly resigned from his Chief Executive role at the pharma company after he was released from custody on £3.5 million bail. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the 32-year-old called all the accusations brought against him “baseless” and “without merit.”

He also accused the US government of inventing the charges, saying: “Beating the person up and then trying to find the merits to make up for it — I would have hoped the government wouldn’t take that kind of approach.”