The recent arrest of Martin Shkreli by federal authorities may impact fans of Wu-Tang Clan. Shkreli gained infamy for raising the price of a critical AIDS drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill, an increase of 5,000 percent. The 32-year-old Shkreli offered no apologies for this insensitive action that will affect thousands across the United States saying in part that his motivation was profit. The multimillionaire was the founder and former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG and manager of a hedge fund that garnered his fortune. Many called his decision to raise the price of the drug insensitive and inhumane.
But now karma has come back hard on Shkreli, who was arrested last week on securities fraud charges from another company he founded called Retrophin. He was fired from this company over accusations of misusing company funds. Part of his wealth was used to purchase the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for an estimated $2 million secret auction. The album contains 31 tracks and came in a hand carved silver box with a leather-bound lyric book. Wu-Tang announced that the album wouldn’t be released to the public for 88 years as part of a unique publicity campaign. Shkreli then taunted fans by live streaming a video of himself listening to the album on headphones and saying “If there is a curious gap in your favorite artist’s discography, well, now you know why.”
Now federal authorities have announced that the album could be seized if it finds that Shkreli used illegal funds for the purchase. Even if he did not use dirty money, the Wu-Tang album could still be seized if Shkreli is found guilty and ordered to pay restitution.The NY FBI tweeted the following:
Shkreli posted a $5 million bond and is currently free while awaiting trial.
