Pharma CEO Martin Shkreli Calls Fraud Accusations ‘Baseless’ in Tweet

Martin Shkreli, the infamous biotech executive and former hedge fund manager expressed confidence that he will overcome all the charges filed against him by federal authorities, and indicated that their allegations are unsubstantiated.

Shkreli was arrested on Thursday on securities fraud and conspiracy charges, although he was released on bail after posting $5 million (4.6 million euros).

Turing, for example, took a decades-old drug, Daraprim, and raised the price to $750 a pill from $13.50. He resigned as the company’s CEO on Friday. From left are defense attorney Baruch White, Martin Shkreli, defense attorney Jonathan Sack and co-defendant Evan Greebel, who was charged with conspiracy.

“Mr. Shkreli expects to be fully vindicated”, his attorneys said in a statement Thursday. Shkreli, who has built a heavy presence on social media, chatted with viewers and played Internet chess in a livestream broadcast Friday (Dec 18) afternoon.

If convicted, both men could get up to 20 years in prison.

Doctors and medical groups said the price hike was cutting patients off from lifesaving treatment, activists protested outside Turing’s offices, and the episode helped prompt a Senate hearing on drug prices.

Until we have had the opportunity to review the charges against Mr. Shkreli, we can not comment further.

Turing Chief Commercial Officer Nancy Retzlaff said in a statement: “We pledge that no patient needing Daraprim will be denied access”.

Shkreli’s arrest immediately raised questions about his future not only at Turing but at KaloBios, a publicly traded California company that he gained control of in November, by leading an investor group that acquired the company’s shares on the open market.

He most recently drew headlines for buying the sole copy of a Wu-Tang Clan album for million and then casually revealing that he never even bothered to listen to it.

The government indictment said Shkreli ran his hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, and Retrophin like a Ponzi scheme, using one company to pay off investors in the other.

Shkreli is also CEO of drugmaker KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc (KBIO.O).

In that February 2012 filing, Shkreli stated that he had sold nearly 1 million shares of SeraCare stock on Valentine’s Day of that year.