Shkreli resigns as CEO after securities fraud arrest

After an arraignment in U.S. District Court in NY, he was released Thursday on a $5 million bond.

Shkreli was vaulted into the headlines earlier this year when he purchased a life-saving pharmaceutical drug and raised its price from $13.50 to $750 a pill.

Shkreli, a former intern for “Mad Money’s” Jim Cramer, had recently won notoriety for raising the price of the drug Daraprim, which is used to fight parasitic infections in AIDS patients.

The charges instead involve his actions at another drug company, Retrophin, which he ran as CEO from 2012 to 2014. “#Breaking no seizure warrant at the arrest of Martin Shkreli today, which means we didn’t seize the Wu-Tang Clan album”, wrote FBI New York.

An investor who requested anonymity told theNew York Times on Friday that although his Thursday arrest had nothing to do with his position at Turing, it would be unjustifiable for Shkreli to remain CEO of the company after the accusations.

Hillary Clinton called it price-gouging and said the company’s behaviour was “outrageous”.

Shkreli tweeted later that evening that he had returned home safely, and thanked his followers for their support. Martin has denied securities about the fraud charges.

Several others joked about whether Shkreli would apply his pricing tactics in prison … or if fellow inmates might turn those practices against him.

Turing’s Daraprim faces new competition from at least two large compounding pharmacies that have signed deals with the largest USA pharmacy benefit managers to provide the generic drug directly to doctors at a price of $1 per day. Merely a few days ago he was on nearly every newspaper and website for spending as much as $2 million for Wu-Tang Clan album.

On Thursday, Robert Weissman, president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, said Shkreli got “a deserved comeuppance”. “So if Shkreli’s arrested for securities violations, it’s a comparable justice”.

The charges against Shkreli, the 32-year-old pharmaceutical entrepreneur, center around his stint running the hedge fund MSMB Capital Management and pharmaceutics company Retrophin. Shares of KaloBios plunged by close to 50 percent on the back of the reports and trading had to be halted in the shares.