Shkreli’s Fraud Trial Set for June 2017
A US federal judge has set Jun. 26, 2017 as the trial date for Martin Shkreli, the 33-year-old founder of Retrophin and Turing Pharmaceuticals and former CEO of KalaBios as well as a hedge fund, on charges of securities fraud.
Shkreli was arrested in December 2015 on charges he defrauded investors in hedge funds he ran and used $11 million worth of Retrophin assets to pay them off and also hid control of unrestricted stock in the company, which he allegedly used to pay down debt.
While at Turing, the former CEO also came under scrutiny for jacking up the price of Daraprim (pyrimethamine), a 62-year-old drug used to treat the deadly parasitic infection toxoplasmosis, from $13.50 to $700 a tablet shortly after acquiring marketing rights in August of last year.
Shkreli has pleaded “not guilty” to all of the charges. Reports said the US government had been hoping to begin the trial by February of next year; however, an attorney being charged as Shkreli’s accomplice had asked for a postponement until September or October 2017. Both defendants may opt to pursue separate trials, depending on the defense’s strategy.
