Martin Shkreli — convicted fraudster of Vyera Pharmaceuticals — received his sentence today, which includes giving up the Wu-Tang Clan album he bought in an auction.
The fraudster acquired the album for $2 million back in 2015 during an auction that saw the hip hop group sell the one-of-a-kind album to a collector instead of making multiple copies of it and uploading it online. Shkreli will have to forfeit $7.36 million as part of his sentence.
Judge Kiyo Matsumoto handed the fraudster the sentence due to the fact that Shkreli’s lawyer said he was cash-broke last year, so he must forfeit his interest in a set of “substitute” assets.
In addition to the Wu-Tang Clan album, he is giving up $5 million in cash from an E-Trade brokerage account that helped him pay for his release bond, his stake in Vyera Pharmaceuticals — previously Turing Pharmaceuticals — the aforementioned rap album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the Lil’ Wayne album “The Carter V” and a painting by Pablo Picasso.
Last June, Shkreli’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman said that the fraudster’s share of Vyera was worth roughly between $30 million and $50 million. Shkreli first came to the public eye when he raised the drug of anti-parasite drug Daraprim by 5000%, from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
The medication is used to treat pregnant women, babies and HIV patients. Shkreli is still subject to additional charges in the form of fines, penalties and restitution.
