Dive Brief:
- Martin Shkreli, ex-CEO for Turing Pharmaceuticals and Retrophin, pled not guilty Monday to allegedly scheming with his attorney Evan Greebel to defraud investors Retrophin investors.
- U.S. authorities first arrested Shkreli in December on the basis that he had been running his investment funds and companies dishonestly. They added the conspiracy charge Friday.
- Shkreli, who has been castigated for raising the price of a drug for toxoplasmosis 5,000% to $750 dollars per pill while CEO of Turing, has pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges.
Dive Insight:
Shkreli stepped down from Turing Pharmaceuticals LLC and was fired from KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. after he and his lawyer Greebel were first arrested last year. The new charges are related to his involvement in his former pharmaceutical company Retrophin Inc., from which he and Greebel are accused of scheming to steal money, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Benjamin Brafman, Shkreli's lawyer for the case, told the AP the new charges do not change "the flawed theory" of the overall prosecution as applied to Mr. Shkreli.
Throughout the legal process, Shkreli has remained a defiant and active Twitter user. He tweeted his lawyer's statement Friday, along with this claim:
Journalists are looking into my MMA career. I will make my debut in the Octagon by year end 2016. Looking forward to this new challenge.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) June 3, 2016