Shkreli vows to beat fraud charges

Ron Tilles, the chairman of the company will take over his position on an interim basis.

Acting chief Tilles, who is also Turing’s chairman, vowed to make Daraprim affordable. Shkreli eventually started his own pharmaceutical company, Turing Pharmaceuticals AG.

He defends the decision as capitalism at work and says insurance and other programs ensure that people who need Daraprim will ultimately get it. Medicare patients are being referred to a charity for help. Last month, however, Turing reneged on its pledge. Law enforcement officials accuse him of running a Ponzi scheme, continually siphoning money away from newer businesses – including a public company – to pay off debts from older businesses, over a period from 2009 to 2014.

Prior to his arrest and subsequent resignation from Turing, Shkreli spoke to Vanity Fair, comparing himself to a “hip-hop Rockefeller” and claiming that he isn’t affected by the criticism and scorn heaped upon him by media and consumers alike.

From left are defense attorney Baruch White, Martin Shkreli, defense attorney Jonathan Sack and co-defendant Evan Greebel, who was charged with conspiracy.

By Friday, he was out on $5 million bail and back on YouTube, ready for his close-up. After he was released, he tweeted: “Glad to be home. Thanks for the support”.

Turing, with offices in NY and Switzerland, bought US rights to sell Daraprim in August, when it had no competition.

The charges related to his alleged activities when he ran a hedge fund and worked at Retrophin, his first pharmaceutical company, not for anything at Turing. Since then, shares have been on an upswing (shares touched a 52-weeek high of $45.82 on Nov 23) until yesterday when the company’s shares plunged 53.2% in pre-market trading with Shkreli being arrested. There’s no word yet on whether he’ll remain at the helm there.

However, karma bites – and Shkreli was arrested on Thursday by federal agents, over allegations of fraud at his now-defunct hedge fund MSMB Capital Management.