It appears that Martin Shkreli’s letter from last week begging the Federal judge overseeing his case for forgiveness and leniency ahead of his sentencing this Friday has not had the desired effect. On Monday, “America’s most hated man” was ordered by Judge Kiyo Matsumoto to forfeit $7.4 million, in the latest win for prosecutors who say the hedge-fund manager turned pharmaceutical executive cheated his investors.
Previously Shkreli argued that he shouldn’t have to forfeit anything because he didn’t profit from the crimes. As Bloomberg notes, the money from his investors went into the stock market, and he didn’t get anything from his plan to control Retrophin shares, his lawyers have said. Investors ultimately got their money back, and more, through settlements and consulting agreements Shkreli arranged, the defendant has claimed.
However, last week, Judge Matsumoto found that Shkreli caused investors to lose more than $10.4 million, rejecting his claim he made them money. Prosecutors argued that Shkreli cost his investors more than $20 million by inducing them to put millions of dollars into his two hedge funds which operated essentially like Ponzi schemes. They said he spent investor funds on personal expenses “to maintain the image of a successful hedge fund manager.”
Shkreli’s publicly disclosed assets include a Picasso, $5 million in his personal trading account, a special edition album by the Wu-Tang Clan and his shares in Vyera Pharmaceuticals – f/k/a Turing Pharmaceuticals.
Shkreli, who is in jail, will be sentenced March 9 on his conviction for defrauding investors in hedge funds he ran by lying to them about his track record and performance as well as a fraud scheme involvingRetrophin.
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/2oRA9gf Tyler Durden