Judge rules against "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli on investor losses
NEW YORK - A judge has ruled that "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli was responsible for nearly $10.5 million in losses in his securities fraud case.
The amount set on Monday by Judge Kiyo Matsumoto of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York could result in a harsher punishment for Shkreli at his March 9 sentencing. In August, a jury found him guilty on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud in a trial that centered on the former pharmaceutical executive's management of two hedge funds.
Shkreli was ruled not guilty on five other counts.
The judge rejected arguments by lawyers for the former pharmaceutical CEO that investors in his failed hedge funds didn't suffer actual losses because he paid them back with drug company stock.
She found Shkreli should be penalized for the losses because he made risky transactions with investors' millions without their permission.
In its case against Shkreli, the government alleged that he defrauded investors and lied about the hedge funds' performance.
The 34-year-old Shkreli earned the nickname "Pharma Bro" for boosting the price of a life-saving drug and for trolling his critics on social media.
