Martin Shrekli Says Fraud Charges Are “Fictitious”; Doesn’t Like “Pharma Bro” Nickname

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One of America’s “most-hated” people, Martin Shrekli, is out on bail, and the disgraced but not repentant Shrekli claims that the fraud charges against him are “fictitious”. In his first interview since his arrest a few days before Cnristmas, Shrekli also told Fox 5NY that he doesn’t like his “pharma bro” nickname.

A couple of months after the price-gouging controversy broke out, Martin Shrekli was arrested by federal authorities on fraud charges related to illegal funds transfers while he was CEO of pharma firm Retrophin.

Another small pharma Shekli gained control of just weeks before his arrest — Kalobios — has since fired him as CEO and declared bankruptcy.

Martin Shrekli says he’s no “pharma bro”

“I’m not a ‘pharma bro,’ right?” Shkreli explained in the interview, claiming the Twitter post that led to his moniker was just a joke.

“The reason I took the picture was, I’m never like that,” he noted. “We take photos when we’re doing unusual things.”

The nickname went viral after Shkreli posted a photo of himself on Twitter with sunglasses, mimicking the video of the musical group Flo Rida. Given that Shkreli increased the price of an AIDS-related drug from $13.50 to $750 in one fell swoop last year, a picture of him apparently celebrating his disgusting greed pricked the public conscience and turned him into one of the most hated people in the country.

Shrekli says he’s innocent and can’t find anybody who hates him

Shockingly, Shrekli seems to be in complete denial about the reality of his situation. In the interview, he claimed: “For all the hate, ‘the most hated man in the world’ can’t find someone who actually hates him.”

When asked about the federal case pending against him for plundering Retrophin to pay off his hedge fund investors, Shkreli said “The government’s case is fictitious.”

He was arrested on the fraud charges in his Manhattan apartment in mid-December. Shrekli entered a not guilty plea and posted a rather substantial $5 million bond to get out of jail.

Until this recent interview, Shrekli has kept a “low profile”, apparently avoiding reality by spending most of his time chatting with online admirers or his attorneys. In terms of attorneys Shkreli seems to be making a chance. A legal filing states:

We currently serve as counsel to defendant Martin Shkreli in the abovereferenced matter. Mr. Shkreli has indicated that he wishes to replace our firm as counsel and is in the process of retaining new counsel. A court conference is scheduled for this Wednesday, January 20, 2016. We respectfully request a two-week continuance of the scheduled conference so that Mr. Shkreli can finalize his engagement of new counsel and we can properly transition the matter to the new attorneys.

Mr. Shkreli consents to the exclusion of time under the Speedy Trial Act. This is his first such request for an adjournment. We have conferred with the Government and counsel for defendant Evan Greebel and have been advised that both parties consent to the proposed continuance. Mr. Greebel further consents to the exclusion of time under the Speedy Trial Act. We are conferring with counsel to determine alternative dates during the week of February 1, and expect to propose such dates to the Court shortly. We recognize that Your Honor’s rules require that requests for adjournment be made two business days prior to the scheduled conference.

The need to request an adjournment arose over the course of this holiday weekend, however. Accordingly, we respectfully request that we be permitted to submit our request today.

Additionally, Shkreli has handed over lots of documents to the court including tweets from “Legitbiotech” and “Thug_BioaAnalyst”

 

Martin ShrekliSee the filings below.

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Shkreli lawsuit

 

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