The shamed pharmacy boss, who was pictured being taking into federal custody on Thursday, allegedly lost mountains of money given to him by investors and then fabricated what was left.
Martin Shkreli spent millions of dollars to indulge his hip-hop fandom while allegedly trying to hide losses from a series of terrible investments, Securities and Exchange Commission files suggest.
The shamed pharmacy boss was arrested and charged with securities fraud on Thursday and is accused of losing mountains of money given to him by investors then lying about what was left.
Shkreli was an avid hip-hop fan, adoring artists including Eminem and DMX, and made no secret of his desire to get involved in the music industry.
And according to federal documents, his lavish lifestyle and music tastes were one of the biggest benefactors of the huge cash sums he was given by investors.
Shkreli recently paid $2million to buy the only copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s latest album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which was pressed on only one CD in a promotional move by the rap group. The FBI said yesterday that they had not seized the album.
And the day before his arrest, Shkreli said he planned to use $2million of money he seemingly didn’t have to bail out jailed rapper Bobby Shmurda, who is accused of conspiracy to murder.