BY BTL STAFF
NEW YORK – Thirty-two year old entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, who raised the price of life saving HIV medication "Daraprim" by 5,000 percent in September, was arrested Dec. 17 on charges of securities fraud. Shkreli was released after paying a $5 million bond.
Prosecutors began digging into Shkreli before he took the lead of Turing Pharmaceuticals when allegations of fraud were suspected during his time as a hedge-fund manager of biopharmaceutical company Retrophin.
Federal officials have described his crimes as a "quasi-Ponzi" scheme, in which he used money from his company to pay off money-losing investors in his hedge funds. In 2014 Retrophin ousted Shkreli as its chief executive.
Shkreli made a quick name for himself as the "most hated man in America" after price gauging the cost of Daraprim from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill. He later conceded that his biggest mistake was not raising the price more.
"We hope that Martin Shkreli's departure will mark the end of Turing Pharmaceuticals' reckless price hikes on life-saving medications," said Olivia Alair Dalton, HRC's senior vice president for communications and marketing. "Turing's interim CEO Ron Tilles should immediately roll back the company's unconscionable 5,000 percent price hike on Daraprim, a crucial treatment for many pregnant women and people living with HIV, and restore the drug to its original cost."
Shkreli resigned as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals Dec. 18.
