Martin Shkreli, ‘Pharma Bro,’ Prepares for Trial: ‘I’m So Innocent’
The trial is expected to last six weeks.
Asked for a comment, a lawyer for Mr. Shkreli, Benjamin Brafman, said, “Because of the many complicated
issues in this trial, I am intent on doing all of my commenting in the courtroom, not in the press.”
Mr. Shkreli is a curious mix of blue-collar-boy-made-good and attention seeker — particularly when that attention is negative.
The indictment contends that Mr. Shkreli lied to investors
and potential investors about the funds’ performance, about how much money investors had put into the funds, and about how much he withdrew from the funds for himself.
Called before Congress last year to testify at a hearing on drug prices — after his indictment, when some public sympathy might have helped — Mr. Shkreli invoked the Fifth Amendment, smirked through the hearing, and afterward tweeted, “Hard to accept
that these imbeciles represent the people in our government.”
Derisively called a “pharma bro” on social media, Mr. Shkreli now uses PharmaBroMS as his handle in League of Legends.
He created settlements between MSMB investors and Retrophin without board approval,
and made up sham consulting agreements with MSMB investors so that Retrophin routed them money.