Feds Sell The Rarest Wu-Tang Clan Album For Unknown Amount To Cover Debts Of Disgraced Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli
The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it has sold a one-of-a-kind music album seized from a former drug company CEO convicted of fraud.
The sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” was originally purchased by Martin Shkreli for $2.2 million in 2015, and was ordered to be forfeited as part of his assets after his arrest in 2018, the Justice Department said in a statement.
“Earlier today, the U.S. sold the sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” which had previously been ordered to be forfeited as a substitute asset in connection with the approximately $7.4 million forfeiture money judgment entered against Martin Shkreli.” pic.twitter.com/6yahppvAph
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 27, 2021
“We are also pleased that he was able to sell the album for a price that is substantially more than that which he paid for it,” Ben Brafman, a lawyer for Mr. Shkreli, told the Wall Street Journal.
The proceeds from the sale, which was not disclosed by the Justice Department, and other forfeited assets will fully cover the $7.4 million Shkreli owed the federal government, according to the Justice Department.
“Through the diligent and persistent efforts of this Office and its law enforcement partners, Shkreli has been held accountable and paid the price for lying and stealing from investors to enrich himself. With today’s sale of his one-of-a-kind album, his payment of the forfeiture is now complete,” Jacqueline M. Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in the press release.
Shkreli was arrested in 2017 of three securities frauds that boosted the price of a drug Daraprim by over 5,000% overnight, according to the New York Times
Daraprim is used to help fight parasitic infections, and the price increase increased treatment costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars, the NYT reported.
Shkreli was the founding member of the hedge funds MSMB Capital Management LP and MSMB Healthcare Management LP as well as the former Chief Executive Officer of Retrophin Inc, according to the Justice Department.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2017 and was ordered to forfeit the Wu-Tang Clan album along with other assets, the Justice Department said in the statement.
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